The Cloth That Binds Us
by xXWarrior-AngelXx
Summary: The color red is a symbol of connection. That cloth he wears is a testament of that. He shall never let his bonds with his friends break, even if his body does so first. **Experimental Fan Fic! Continuation depends on feedback** Rated M for Strong Coarse Language, and Explicit Themes. Cover art by ME!
1. Prologue - Part 1

**I've read a bunch of RWBY fan fics over the past few weeks and I thought that I should at least experiment with one myself. This is actually part 1 of a two-part prologue. I hope you guys like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. It belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

**...R.I.P. Monty :-(**

* * *

Light snowfall covered the small land of Patch. The gray clouds gave way to little sunlight, but enough to give people a sense of direction. However, the bitter cold was enough to make people want to remain indoors.

...Well, most people...

Deep inside a barren woodlands, a young blonde girl was trudging through the ground dyed white, cold and alone... Almost alone. Behind her was a small wagon and upon further inspection, inside of it was another even younger girl, asleep and bundled in red to keep her warm.

"Mom's out there... Mom is out there... and we'll find her really soon. You hear that, Ruby? We're gonna go see Mom now. And then, Dad will be like himself again and we'll all be happy... And that's a promise from your big sis Yang."

Young Yang Xiao Long dragged the dormant Ruby Rose through the frigid snow and through the woods alone, reassuring both Ruby and herself, but herself more as she knew Ruby couldn't hear her. Yang peered through the map she had procured from her father's study, hoping to find the alleged location of her first mother. She was so tired, so hungry... so... lost without her mother to love and nurture her. Did her mother not love her? Is that why she left them? Was it because of her father? She had to know. NOW!

However, young Yang thought to herself: how was she, a girl of such little training in the fighting style of her family who carelessly dragged her baby sister through the bitter cold be able to find her missing mother? She shook her head to clear her mind of such depressing thoughts and focused on the task at hand. With renewed vigor and determination, she continued her desperate search bearing nothing but a makeshift map and an iron will that was slowly rusting with each passing minute.

Unfortunately, her trek through the uncharted woods had attracted the attention of a pack of black, canine beasts. Their only mindset being to hunt, kill, and consume. They were creatures who harbor a great abhorrence for the human race and will attack on sight. Their leader's blood red eyes darted left as it caught the scent of those disgraceful meat bags and a low growl emanated from its throat to alert its underlings. Yang was unaware of their slow pursuit, all of them meticulously stalking at every corner of the woods, hiding under the cover of the nearby brushes and awaiting the moment they get to dine on their delicious flesh and use their skeletons as chew toys.

Meanwhile, Yang had crossed an icy river and was walking up the snowy hill before them. She heard Ruby drowsily murmur something about her favorite sweets and this had brought a small smile to her face. She ignored the pain welling up in her feet and ankles as she finally made it to the hill's apex, spotting a small shack in the middle of a clearing. Her heart skipped a few beats before it raced in adrenaline. She was overjoyed as the long awaited moment became known to her. She could see her mother! Finally! She sprinted down the hill and made it to the shack's front door and pounded vigorously at the door, only to see it was unlocked.

Here it is...

The moment she had waited for...

With a deep inhale, Yang placed her hands on either side of her mouth and yelled.

"MAMA!"

...But there was no answer...

No, instead Yang felt a sharp feeling of pain as a black blur charged straight at her, causing her to drop Ruby, who was once in her arms like a mother held her child. The girl in red began to cry from her hard landing. The pack of wild beasts had come for their next meal. Eight in total as they evenly dispersed and surrounded both sisters, growling lowly with their heads tucked down signaling that they were about ready to pounce. If these beasts had any semblance of emotion, they would definitely be taking pride in the quivering fear they were instilling onto the youths.

Sparing no time, one of them had leapt at elder of the two, claws bared and ready to tear at her pale skin. However, it missed and was only able to slightly nick at Yang's left cheek. She felt the stinging pain grip her which was only augmented as one of the beasts charged and rammed her in the stomach causing her to hit the wall on the far end of the cabin, effectively knocking the wind out of her.

Yang painfully raised her head and, to her horror, four of the canine beasts were slowly stalking around Ruby as if taunting Yang to come over there and do something. The blonde felt both pain and anger well up inside her, the anger taking the pain down a notch or two. How dare they try to hurt her baby sister?! How DARE they! With strength she didn't know she had at the time, Yang rushed at the group and managed to punch away one of the beasts before grabbing hold of Ruby, holding onto her for dear life. Unfortunately for her, this only angered the whole lot of them as they finally decided to start ravaging. All eight of them grouped up collectively, their leader taking the front. Yang's anger and pain turned into spine tingling fear. She couldn't contain her fidgeting. She was powerless and outnumbered without the slightest sliver of hope filling her eyes as bitter tears escaped her eyes. She finally braced herself for the pain to come as she closed her eyes.

'If I'm dying, at least I'll keep Ruby safe in my arms!' was her only thought at the moment. The leader of the pack finally lunged at the two, jaw opened to tear at the frightened blonde's flesh and taste her very blood.

...That was until it exploded in a bright flash of light, surprising all whom were present. Once the smoke cleared, the ten-that-were-once-eleven bore witness to the charred and blackened body of the pack leader. The remaining seven of the canine creatures then caught the scent of another, hoping that it was the bastard who just killed their superior. Yang, on the other hand, hesitantly opened her lilac orbs after noticing the lack of crushing pain (or rather less than she was feeling already). She turned her head to see the biggest of the creatures lying dead on the wooden floors and its underlings turned away from her and growling threateningly at something. Regaining the feeling in her legs, Yang shifted leftwards and looked up to catch a glimpse of who or what had inadvertantly saved her and her eyes widened at what she saw.

Up on the rafter furthest from her stood a person; a boy who looked no older than herself. His jet black hair was spiky and unkempt and his ultramarine blue eyes bore a blank expression on his light tan face. His outfit consisted of an alizarin red coat with breast pockets on each side of the zipper and a fur rimmed hood under which he wears a simple black shirt. A blood red scarf was wrapped around his neck with four letters that Yang couldn't make out very well. He wore navy blue, baggy pants and had normal, white sneakers. He was armed only with one bow with sharp edges.

The boy jumped and landed right in front of Yang, impaling the already dead body with one end of his bow and leaving it there as he stared threateningly at the pack without a leader. His eyes narrowed, silently threatening bodily harm to or the murder of anyone who stepped closer to the girls. The beasts, however, ignored such a threat in favor of avenging their fallen superior. They all lunged at the youth with the intent to kill but the boy stood his ground, picking up his bow and splitting it in half, converting it into dual blades as he got into a stance.

One by one they all started to fall. The boy's movements earned him the upper hand despite being outnumbered. Each cut with his blades sending searing pain and quick deaths to these vile creatures. In a matter of minutes, the battle was over, leaving Ruby, Yang, and the newcomer. After reassembling his bow and strapping it to his back, he turned to the awestruck Yang and Ruby. He wore a warm smile as he neared the two, however Yang only scooted away from him in apprehension. The boy flinched slightly and stopped where he was. He stood unmoving, hoping that it would let them know that he was a friendly. Yang's eyes only narrowed as she kept inspecting him. The two kids had a staring contest one with kindness and slight amusement and the other with caution and slight fear, but that fear died down ever so slowly as she saw that he wouldn't do anything to them. But she wasn't about to let Ruby go and after what seemed to be centuries for Yang, she spoke.

"W-Who are you? Why did you save us?" she asked. The boy tilted his head in confusion before assuming a thinking position. About half a minute later, he simply shrugged, unsure as to why he had come to their aid.

"You still didn't answer my question. Who. Are. You?" Yang asked with a tone more threatening than she knew she could muster at the time. The boy only responded by pointing to his scarf. More specifically: the gold lettering embossed on it. Yang had to squint as she was still sure that in no way was she about to get any closer to her unknown savior, no matter how grateful she felt.

"K… Ku… Kuro? That's a weird name…" she deadpanned softly. The now named Kuro felt insulted as he whined and made a pout that nearly rivaled Ruby's in cuteness. Yang's eyes softened, if only marginally. Kuro held a hand out to help her up. She nearly refused, but her mind was telling her to accept any and all help she could find so she readily reached out and grabbed it. She let Ruby, whose fear subsided enough to let her walk again, go but fell forward as the pain in her feet, back, and face ricocheted throughout her body. Kuro had caught her easily and shifted so that she rested on his back. Yang was slightly... no, greatly taken aback by his continuous gestures of kindness. She had no time to question it as he walked out the door, dragging Ruby who was seated in the nearly forgotten wagon.

Yang couldn't believe it. All her life she was told to never trust anybody she did not know, but today this random guy in red comes to her rescue like those heroes in storybooks. However, she was also wracked with guilt over nearly getting herself and Ruby killed by doing something stupid like running out on her own to find their mother. Right now, she just wanted to cry and be held in her father's or even Uncle Qrow's arms and be told that everything will be okay. Her thoughts of self derision were disrupted when she felt Kuro stiffen. Quicker than she had time for, he kicked back Ruby's wagon and jumped to the left, just barely dodging a bullet aimed at his leg. A middle aged man holding what appears to be a scythe emerged from the deep ends of the shrubbery, eyes narrowed dangerously as he pointed it at Kuro.

"Kid... I'm only gonna say this once: step away from my nieces..." the man all but growled as the sound of a gun cocking filled the ever so suffocating silence. It was safe to say that Kuro nearly needed a change in underwear. Ruby, however, was only filled with glee as she stepped out of the wagon and enveloped the man in a big hug.

"Uncle Qrow! You're here!" she cheered, tears of joy falling and staining Qrow's shirt, not that he cared right now. He just wanted to know who the hell this kid was and why he is he currently piggybacking his eldest niece.

"Now, kid. Do not make me repeat myself. Drop my niece NOW!"

Kuro, feeling intimidated by the man, slowly and carefully set Yang down onto her feet. She hissed in pain as her feet hadn't fully recovered, but she could still manage.

"Now, kid, you stay there. Yang. Come here. We're going back home," he commanded, the threatening tone in his voice never wavering. Kuro knew that a shot from that weapon Qrow was holding can easily turn him into Swiss cheese, so he stayed perfectly still while Yang made her way to her uncle with a bit of trepidation. However, seeing the look of fear in Kuro's eyes made Yang do something that she herself didn't expect to do.

"U-Uncle Qrow, please don't hurt him... Kuro saved me and Ruby when we were attacked by those monsters," she pleaded. Qrow's eyes softened slightly, but he dared not to lower his weapon.

"Yang, while I am relieved that you two made it out alive and well, how do we know that Kuro (Is that what she called him?) may or may not have some ulterior motive behind rescuing you?"

"I-" Yang stopped herself. Uncle Qrow has a point: what if he was doing this for something deplorable? The girl's heart was practically shouting at her to say because she trusts him, but her brain is currently trying to use deductive reasoning in response to Uncle Qrow's question.

"(sniffle) Uncle Qrow... I know that Kuro is a good guy, or else he would've left me and big sis alone back there," Ruby said before she lets go of Qrow and runs and hugs the boy in question. "And good guys always help people in need! We shouldn't hurt the good guys!"

Qrow let a small smile grace his lips and shook his head at the younger girl's attempts at defending the fearful, blushing boy. He finally lowered the scythe before strapping it to his back and turning around.

"Alright, Ruby. I'll let your friend live..." he said. He didn't need to turn around to see Ruby's face brighten. "But the three of you must stay close until we reach the house, understand?"

The three kids silently complied and followed Qrow through the snow, the girls holding onto Kuro for warmth and Kuro blushing from the close contact the entire way.

* * *

After ten minutes of complete silence, the group of four had arrived at a house in the small town which Kuro guessed was their home. Qrow opens the door and lets the kids go inside first. But of course the quiet, peaceful time would not be left unscathed as the voice of another man bellowed from the other room.

"Qrow! Where have you been?! And why the hell were the girls with you in the woods?!" he yelled. In an instant Qrow's tranquil features turned dark as he shot past the three children, all of whom had shared a quick glance at each other.

"You want to know why, Taiyang?! Well, take a damn good, long look at THIS!" Qrow slammed the map that Yang had with her onto the table, shocking Taiyang greatly.

"While you were sitting on your ass wallowing in your self pity those two helpless children were out there, ALONE AND IN THE GOD FORSAKEN FREEZING COLD, searching for their MOTHER! Do you have any idea what would've happened if I hadn't noticed that they were missing?! They would've DIED! THEY WOULD HAVE FUCKING DIED! Tell me something, Taiyang: Just what matters more to you? Your missing wife? Or YOUR DAMN CHILDREN'S LIVES?!"

Taiyang sat in silence. His body stopped responding in reaction to the information thrown at him. How could he let this happen? What possessed him to just let his two children go out and risk their lives just for his happiness, completely oblivious to the fact that their mother is dead. As he thought about this Qrow continued, but with a calmer tone this time.

"Listen to me, Taiyang. What happened to Summer struck hard for me too, but do you want to know what I did to help me cope with this?" the man raised his head with a somber expression. "I close my eyes and think about what Summer would say if she saw me crying like a little kid who lost his favorite teddy bear. Heh... She'd probably give me hell and tell me to man up and let it go. And that was exactly what I did: let it go... We need to move on, Taiyang. If not for ourselves, then for Ruby and Yang."

Taiyang couldn't hold it in anymore and bitter tears stained his cheeks. Qrow saw his sorry condition but this time, instead of admonishing him, he sat down and comforted him. Taiyang and Qrow stayed this way for a while until the former's tears finally stopped. After separating and Taiyang giving Qrow his thanks, the latter moved towards the front door and placed his hand on Kuro's left shoulder.

"Although, I should mention that I was only halfway into finding where they were when I saw this kid right here along with the girls, safe and sound." Kuro rubbed his left arm in embarrassment as the younger girl beamed.

"Yup! Yup! He's like those good guys from those books! He had this thing that he broke and then he used it like a sword and then those monsters tried to hurt him and then he-"

"Ruby." Yang giggled at her sister's ranting before stopping her. It was then that Kuro, for the first time since anyone had met him, spoke up.

"Ruby's right, Mr. Qrow. My bow can turn into these little daggers by breaking them in half, and magically turn back when I put them together. I kinda found that out by accident, though..."

"Amazing... And to think that it's in the hands of someone so young..." Taiyang muttered.

"Well... I've actually had this since I was really little. I can't really remember how I ended up with it, but boy did it come through for me in the end!"

"And that's the very same weapon you used to save my daughters?" Kuro nods in confirmation along with the girls.

"Well, words alone cannot even begin to show how grateful I am that you returned my children to me. Even though you three haven't met until then."

"Well, it just seemed like the best thing to do. I couldn't just stand there and watch them get you-know-what," Kuro made the universal gesture for death by running a finger in a horizontal motion in front of his neck. Both adults nod in approval.

"Well, then I guess it's about time for you to head home, Kuro. Your family is mostly likely worr-"

"I never knew my family..." Kuro somberly interrupted Taiyang. Everyone in the room flinched except Ruby, who merely tilted her head in confusion.

"Well... then, do you have any other relatives like aunts or uncles? Anyone?" Qrow inquired, already getting a feeling of what the answer might be.

"No. Don't know them, either... It's just been me, myself, and I for most of my life. I was told that I was found and placed in an orphanage, but every one of the other kids used to pick on me, so I took my bow and left while everyone was sleeping. And from when I was four to today, I've lived to support myself."

"So, let me get this straight: You're an orphan..." Qrow asks and Kuro nods.

"...You have zero knowledge about your parents or your family in general..." Kuro nods again.

"...You were miraculously found out of nowhere and taken to a nearby orphanage..."

"Yup." Kuro made a popping sound with the "p".

"... And you ran away armed only with a bow because you couldn't handle being bullied by the other children?"

"Uh-huh. That's what happened..." Qrow saw a pained and lonely glint in Kuro's eyes as he confirmed each fact. He closed his eyes briefly before letting out a breath that he even know he held. Ruby hugged Kuro's middle as she started crying again and the boy merely pets her. Yang followed suit. Qrow and Taiyang shared a glance and reached a unanimous decision.

"Alright..." Taiyang said vaguely.

"Alright?" Kuro parroted in confusion.

"You can stay here for the night. It's the least we can do..." Qrow clarified. Kuro was about to protest, but a yawn from him left no room for debate.

"Can we at least stay up and play with Kuro, Daddy?" Ruby asked suddenly. The adults looked at each other once more and both shrugged, thinking the exact same thing:

_'Sweet Monty, we've gotta stop spoiling them..._'

"Fine, but you kids go straight to bed when it hits 12:00, understood?" Taiyang sternly commanded, earning nods from all three. Ruby punched the air and uttered a victory shout. She and Yang dragged Kuro upstairs and to their room to start their little games.

* * *

Opening the door to their room, Kuro took in its contents: two simple dressers painted red and yellow for Ruby and Yang respectively; there were two beds, one made neatly and the other had its blankets sprawled all over with one of the comforters lying unceremoniously on the floor; a large chest overflowing with stuffed animals and other toys was located in the furthest corner of the room; and the window was decorated with clear, translucent curtains.

Kuro returned to Remnant when little Ruby squeezed his hand and offered him a cookie. He raised an eyebrow before accepting the treat and Ruby sped off, a mass of rose petals left in her place. Kuro did a double take before shrugging and inspecting the doughy snack. Yang saw this and grew curious.

"Aren't you gonna eat that?" she asked and Kuro glanced at her, confused.

"You're... not gonna take it from me?" he asked.

"Why would I do that?"

"Well, it's just... back at the orphanage, the other kids would either hide or just plain eat all of the snacks before I could get any," Yang gasped softly. "It's because of that that I've never had an actual cookie before. Usually when I was out on my own, I would actually just pick fruits off of the trees. Although, that usually ends with me falling and hitting my head on the ground. It really hurt... Anyways, I've always wanted a cookie, but I could never get one so..."

Kuro bit into the cookie and an explosion of flavor that he had never experienced went off in his mouth. The softness, the myriad of chocolate-y decadence, and the... roundness sent him into Cookie Heaven. He devoured the rest so quickly that he almost bit his own finger off. He stole a quick glance at his blonde companion, whose look of disbelief said it all:

_'Are you kidding me, bro?'_

After a quick minute of silence, Ruby came back with a red jar labeled 'cookies', already digging in as evident by the cookie crumbs staining her mouth. Kuro used his scarf to wipe her face clean, with the redhead squealing a bit in discomfort with colored cheeks. He reached inside the jar and pulled out two cookies and hands one to Yang and the three each took a big bite. Their quiet moment went away when Ruby moaned in discomfort. Yang was the first to react.

"What happened, Ruby?" the younger sibling said nothing as she covered her mouth with her hand. Kuro couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"I think she might've bit her tongue..." Ruby moaned again. That was all the answer the eight year olds needed as they laughed. Ruby sent a pouting glare at them for being laughed at, prompting them to laugh even more. The three kids continued to get along while playing together until Taiyang sent them all to bed.

Kuro was about to fall asleep when he felt two extra weights land on his bed. Opening one eye, he saw Ruby and Yang snuggling close to him with content smiles as they immediately fell asleep under Kuro's warmth. The boy-made-pillow could only smile. A real smile. One final thought raced in his mind before sleep claimed him:

_'Is this what it's like to have sisters? I'm... really happy...'_

* * *

**Okay, so leave a review on how you guys think I did. If you're gonna flame, at least be civilized as I do take the time to read them. If I feel that they're too offensive or downright degrading, I'll just ignore you so please don't be rude.**

**~ Peace!**


	2. Prologue - Part 2

**Okay, so this chapter'll feature a bunch of time skips, so I'm sorry if that turns some of you off from this story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. It belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

**...R.I.P. Monty :-(**

* * *

Kuro trekked and trekked and trekked some more. He was alone again as he had left the house of Taiyang, Qrow, Ruby, and Yang.

That was three years ago...

Kuro had stayed with them much longer than anticipated. He stayed for a total of one year as opposed to the one night that he had originally planned. The reason for his extended stay: his friendship with Ruby and Yang.

Ruby was like the younger sister that Kuro never had. She was, to be blunt, downright adorable and he usually fought the urge to just hug her senseless. Although, he was a bit weirded out about her insatiable appetite for sweets despite Taiyang, Qrow,and Yang's advice that she eat healthier. That was something that she vehemently denied to Kuro's great amusement.

Yang, on the other hand, was fun to be around. Her rowdy mannerisms always brought a smile to Kuro's face. Although, Kuro noticed that she was a bit... huggy (Yeah, like that's totally a word). One minute she'd be acting like her normal rambunctious self and the next Kuro would find himself within her crushing grasp as she kept getting stronger every day. Another thing was that he wished that she would settle for not shamming her finger up his nose to wake him up every morning.

When Kuro told everyone that he had to leave, the girls were devastated. Ruby had started to cry and begged him not to go and Yang wasn't that far behind. It took one more day out together for them to accept his departure. Before he set off finally, Ruby had given him a crayon drawing of the three of them to remember them by and Yang...

...Yang settled for a peck on the cheek, leaving him a red faced, stuttering mess for the next half hour.

Now at the age of eleven, Kuro arrives at the city of Vale. The dark gray clouds gave everything a depressing look and foreshadowed heavy rainfall. He silently complained about the choice of weather and whatever omnipotent being that's up there having a dark sense of humor. He had made it to the center of town when he heard a commotion. After turning a few corners, Kuro bore witness to a rather sad sight.

Walking down the road towards him was a large crowd of people. But these people weren't ordinary for he saw numerous appendages that usually only belonged to animals ranging from ears to wings to tails (and one guy with a REALLY really long neck). They collectively held up signs with words of protest as they yelled out towards everyone until their throats burned.

As they came closer, Kuro could feel their words fading towards his field of hearing and abruptly stopped and gawked as many others did. He had a look of sadness on his face as he read the signs.

'Stop this harshness!'

'We are people, too!'

'Liberty to Faunas!' That last word struck something within Kuro.

'So that's what they're called? Faunas?' Kuro thought morbidly. He remembered hearing people making racist comments about Faunas and he even believed that one of them tried to make him see things through their eyes. But Kuro would rather see things from a third party and refused.

As soon as his reminiscence was over, one thing had finally caught his eye. Or rather... one person: a girl. She had dark, shoulder length hair and amber colored eyes. On top of her head were two black cat ears which Kuro thought were absolutely adorable. She walked a considerable distance behind them, but was just as determined as the rest of the crowd. Her raised voice was screaming out for equality amongst their people and humans.

The crowd of Faunas marched onwards towards a large building. The Schnee Dust Company Building. Soon after they reached and surrounded the building, the guards had appeared to try and ward the crowd off. The Faunas were quite persistent. They would not go down without a fight. The one Faunas girl stopped and looked around to see if they had gotten through to at least someone in the surrounding area. Soon, her eyes lay upon a certain boy in a red coat and a red scarf who was looking at the crowd with a look of sadness and sympathy.

Unfortunately, her attention was turned towards a new batch of guards carrying a yellow, gemlike object. They threw the gem which revealed the common crowd control item called Dust. This one, in particular, causes loss of consciousness if inhaled. Kuro instinctively reached for his bow once he heard the crowd coughing violently. He almost drew it when he saw one container of Dust fly towards the cat eared girl. With no time to waste, Kuro ran in her direction and shoved her away, causing her to drop onto the ground and drop her sign. Dust spread all around Kuro and he ended up inhaling it.

He started coughing much like the group of Faunas who were falling one by one from the Dust in the air. His legs started to give out and he fell to his knees, still coughing and wheezing. He used whatever strength he had left to crawl onto the sidewalk as his vision slowly blurred and turned black. The last thing he saw before blacking out was a pair of concerned and terrified eyes.

* * *

After slipping back to the land of the conscious again, Kuro jolted up only to find himself in a tiny, makeshift bed in an abandoned warehouse. He was wrapped in newspaper to act as blankets. His mind had a relapse of events: walking into a huge city, the crowd of people protesting, guards throwing stuff at them, and then... the girl with the cat ears! His mind was screaming at him to get up and go find her, but he found out that he didn't need to-

"Are you okay?"

-because said Faunas girl was already sitting next to him, patiently waiting for him to wake up. She didn't wait for Kuro to respond as she placed her hand on his forehead. Kuro rose an inquisitive eyebrow before gently grabbing her hand (he internally grimaced when she flinched from his touch) and finally speaking.

"Wait... Don't we have his backwards? And why are we in an abandoned warehouse?"

"You were the one who passed out from... you know..." the girl deadpanned.

"Okay, but what about where we are right now?"

"I... live here..." she said sadly.

"Oh, geez! I'm so sorry... uhh..."

"Blake. Blake Belladonna," Blake introduced herself.

"Okay then, Blake. I'm Kuro. And I'm sorry for asking such a bad question..." Kuro apologized

"It's okay. You asked a question, I answered."

"Well, I don't want the answer if telling me makes someone sad." Kuro said with conviction. Blake stared at him incredulously for a few moments.

"I guess it's now my turn to ask a question..." she said coyly.

"Well, shoot."

"Why did you help me back there?"

"Because..." Kuro drew a blank. "Actually, I'm not sure. Why do you ask? Was I not supposed to?"

"You do know that I'm a Faunas, right?" Blake asked with a gleam of hope in her eyes.

"Yeah, so...?"

"And you're a human..."

"Yeah, so...?" Kuro repeated.

"Don't you hate me... Us?" Blake asked grimly.

"Well, no I don't hate you. Why would I? We've only just met. As for hating Faunas: again, why would I? Is it really a crime to be so different from others?"

"How do I know you're not lying?" Blake's expression darkened, both surprising and scaring Kuro.

"Well, what do I need to do to prove that I'm not?" Blake was about to answer before Kuro cut her off. "Oh, wait! I know!"

Kuro grabbed Blake's hand and pulled her back to the outside. He ran with her back towards a mini market in the city. He looked both ways before turning to face the cat Faunas hiding behind a dumpster.

"Stay here. I'll be back soon," Blake nodded hesitantly and Kuro sped off. After about five minutes, he returned with one hand behind his back.

"Blake, I've a present for you. Two, in fact," he said with a warn smile. Blake rose an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"You'll have to close your eyes first," Kuro replied while swaying a little bit. Blake rolled her eyes before closing them as per Kuro's request. Her ears picked up the sounds of Kuro's sneakers hitting the pavement as he walked closer. The next thing she felt was something wrapped around her cat ears and her shoulders. She then felt Kuro lead her in another direction before stopping.

"Okay, you can open them now." Blake slowly opened her eyes and stared into a mirror inside the store Kuro had disappeared into. She gasped at what she saw. Up on top of her head was a pretty black bow that did well to cover her Faunas ears and matched perfectly with her own dark hair and around her shoulders was a dark gray coat with a fur rimmed hood that vaguely matched Kuro's red one. It was a few sizes too big, but she knew she would grow into it eventually. Blake turned and looked at Kuro in disbelief.

"So, what do you think? Pretty fitting, huh? And that bow one your head will do wonders for letting you get around the city without anyone knowing what you are! Cool, huh-"

Kuro couldn't say anymore because Blake had already thrown herself at Kuro, hugging him tightly. He could see her trembling and feel her tears staining his coat. Any bystanders watching couldn't help but go "Aww" at the scene before them. Kuro blushed crimson before tapping Blake on the shoulder.

"Uh.. B-Blake... People are wa-a-atching..." Blake didn't listen to him as she just hugged him tighter.

"I love it. Thank you so much, Kuro. You're the first person that's ever been so kind to me..." Kuro frowned at this and, after he got his blush under control, hugged Blake back and gently rubbed the top of Blake's head while being careful not to move her new bow. This resulted in her purring, which tickled Kuro slightly. He bit back a laugh before whispering sweet nothings to her to get her to calm down.

When Blake's sobbing died down to occasional sniffles, he peered out the closest window and saw a small bakery. He realized that buying Blake's new clothing cut his current Lien supply by half, but he didn't care. If it made his new friend happy, then screw the money.

As if on cue, Blake's stomach started grumbling and she let out an embarrassed mewl. Kuro snickered and she punched his arm, even more embarrassed. He then walked away towards the aforementioned bakery, Blake not at all behind him.

Once inside, the duo was greeted kindly by the owner and his wife. Kuro greeted back and perused the menu to see if they had his new favorite treat: strawberry shortcake (which one of the locals in a previous town had introduced him to and now he was totally hooked). He then asked Blake if she wanted anything much to her surprise and she simply asked for a muffin. Kuro turned that into a dozen muffins. The two grew embarrassed though when the owner's wife told Kuro that he was a good boyfriend and the husband gave Kuro a discount to help out on their "date". After leaving, Kuro sighed.

"Whew... Well, that happened... I can't believe she actually thought we were boyfriend/girlfriend..."

"You don't seem to be excited about it..." Blake said bitterly.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"Humph! Nothing," Blake stated harshly before walking off back to her "home".

Once they arrived, Kuro handed Blake her muffin while he cut a slice of his shortcake using the blade of his bow. They sat in comfortable silence while enjoying their treats. Blake even muttered something about wanting tuna, making Kuro laugh saying that she really can't fight her instincts.

The sky darkened as day turned into night. Kuro and Blake noticed this and both gave simultaneous yawns.

" We should probably hit the hay now... Oh!"

Kuro reached into the bag he had from the first store he went to and pulled out two sleeping bags: one black and one red. He started out by unrolling the black one and patted it, signalling that that one was for Blake.

"Thank goodness that I bought these sleeping bags for plot relevance. Really helps with this fan fiction."

Blake had no idea what this "fan fiction" was, but decided not to question it. She merely sated her body's desire to rest by entering said sleeping bag, immediately feeling comfort for the first time in years. She heard light snoring from behind her, letting her know that Kuro was asleep. She, however, couldn't as conflicting thoughts rolled in her mind.

_'Am I... being selfish? Here I am receiving food, clothes, and a warm place to sleep from this... wonderful human (where did that last bit come from?) while the White Fang are out there fighting for equality..."_ she turned around to see Kuro's sleeping face, a tiny smile adorning it. She took in his current appearance. So blissful. So innocent and unaware.

_'So cute... STOP IT, BRAIN!'_

She had stared at his closed eyes for a bit while finally coming to a conclusion.

_'Tomorrow... I'll spend the day with him and then that night I'll tell him that I have to go...'_ Blake finalized before taking off to the realm of sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Blake woke Kuro up, asking him to spend the day with her. Kuro agreed without hesitation. Throughout the day, they visited many places, making memories of each. Blake had even marked this as the greatest day of her life, but she knew it wouldn't be perfect when the sun had gone down to reveal the waning gibbous moon. Kuro and Blake sat on the docks, testing dangling over the moonlit waters.

"Thank you, Kuro." Blake said out of the blue. Kuro turned his head to her, his silly smile still present. Blake saw this and her own smile faltered a bit.

_'Stop looking at me with that smile. You're making this harder than it needs to be...'_ Kuro didn't notice it and merely asked.

"Hm? Why are you thanking me?" Blake placed a hand over her heart.

"For everything you've done for me. You showed me so much kindness. So much that I think that I'll explode... And that's why this choice was hard to make..."

"What choice?" Blake stood up in silence while fighting back tears. She let out a deep exhale before looking Kuro, who also stood up, in the eyes.

"I've decided... to go back to the White Fang..." she stated hesitantly, not looking Kuro in the eyes after saying it.

Kuro's eyes widened and he felt his heart shatter. This was his third friend (if you can call it that since they've only known each other for a day...) and now she's basically saying that she's leaving him. It was heart break to say the least. His eyes began to water and a few sniffles were made apparent. Blake, not know I g what else to do, hugged Kuro while rubbing his back. They said nothing until Kuro broke the silence.

"Why, Blake? Why do you have to go?" he said in between sniffles.

"Because, Kuro, I can't just selfishly abandon my race just because one person is so good to me. I need to be there to help our cause. And it's a hard objective, but not impossible. But we need all the Faunas we can get."

As if on cue, shouting could be heard coming from the city beside them. Blake and Kuro looked on in sadness. Kuro steeled his nerves before looking at Blake, tears still in his eyes but a hard expression was on his face.

"Well? What're you waiting for? An invitation? Your people need you, Blake. Go!" Blake nodded and ran forward, but not before Kuro grabbed her hand.

"But... I want to give you something to remember me by, okay?" he said as he moved closer towards her. He then removed his red scarf and wrapped it around her neck.

"You're giving me your scarf? Why..."

"Like I said: I want you to remember me. And that scarf will totally help with that! I'm gonna call it 'The Cloth That Binds Us!'"

Blake merely giggled softly before pecking his left cheek.

"Goodbye, Kuro. I'll never forget you..." she turned and walked away with Kuro waving at her.

_'I get it. This is a sign... That there's still hope for us Faunas. Thank you, Kuro... You helped me see that by being there for me. By being... my first real friend...'_ Blake thought as she ran her hand across Kuro's red scarf. She looked at Kuro from the side only to see that he had already left. She smiled despite herself as she integrated into the crowd of White Fang members.

_'I'm so glad I got to meet you.'_

* * *

_Six Years Later..._

A seventeen year old Kuro walked impatiently around the airship flying directly towards Beacon. The airship itself was luxurious, furnished with deep carpets, couches and even vending machines. Kuro mainly hung around the vending machines for two-thirds of the trip. He whistled a tune to himself with his hands behind his head in a chill position. His time alone was interrupted by the sound of retching. In front if him was the gross sight of a blond boy hunched over a waste bin, releasing the contents of his stomach while everyone who passed grimaced. Kuro groaned and went over to the poor guy and rubbed his back.

"Seriously, Jaune... You just had to forget to pack the stomach medicine..." Kuro chided. Jaune merely stared back at him with a disgruntled expression. Kuro could've sworn he saw his face turn green.

"It's not my fault! You could've reminded me or Mom and Pop beforehand!"

"We DID! Joseph and Juniper did more times than me." Jaune groaned.

"Damn it... Hurrgg-!" Jaune felt another round come on and Kuro let his surrogate brother's back and turned around muttering.

"I can't believe we're somewhat related...

* * *

For you confused people out there, Kuro had been adopted by the Arc family when their only son, Jaune, had befriended him and learned that he was orphaned. The two got along swimmingly, despite Kuro constantly making fun of him for his motion sickness. To this day, they have been "brothers" for three years and had both applied and got accepted to the prestigious Beacon Academy.

* * *

In terms of apparel, Jaune wore a simple black hoodie and blue jeans. He had chest plate armor and shoulder pads. He wears two belts in a cross fashion with a small pouch strapped onto one of them. He wears brown fingerless gloves and has his family's sword, Crocea Mors, strapped to his side along with his shield which doubles as a sheathe for the sword.

Kuro, however, went through a major fashion change. His hair had grown considerably as he now wears it in a ponytail. He wears light blue ear piercings, three on each ear. His battle wear consists of a black, sleeveless, high collared, zip-up vest, over which he wears another one, this one brown with flame motifs coming from the bottom ending at just his midriff. He has two belts wrapped around his midriff and over the brown vest. Both vests are skintight, showing his lean yet muscular build. He wears black wristbands with one red stripe and studs on top of the single stripe and light blue, fingerless gloves. He wears a long, black cloth around his waist with white edging, a studded belt with a pale gold buckle, baggy black pants tucked under white and cyan boots with his name emblazoned on the tongue with four emeralds on the counter, black laces, a black lining just over blue soles, and black heels with a thick, red metal on the back. His most prominent choice of clothing is a red scarf around his neck, similar to the one he had as a youth. Walking away from the degenerate, vomiting blond, Kuro rounded a corner nearby.

He stopped abruptly when a projection of a woman appeared and spoke about a recent robbery involving Roman Torchwick.

...Kuro grimaced at that accursed name. His face turned into a dark scowl as he clutched his neck through his scarf.

Although, setting his anger aside, Kuro took a minute a look over the woman's appearance. She looked no older that in her early to mid thirties. He saw her platinum blonde hair done in a neat and professional fashion, her enchanting green eyes hiding behind square rimmed glasses, and her pale complexion with a stern and focused expression. She wore a simple white blouse and black skirt hemmed sharply just above the knee.

_'Oh, I bet she's a real life of the party...'_

"Good afternoon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. I am a professor here and would like to welcome you to Beacon Academy. For a while, we have experienced a wondrous time of peace and now it lays on you as future hunters and huntresses to uphold it. We will be arriving at our destination soon, so please make proper preparations for an easy landing."

_'Don't gotta tell me twice...'_ Kuro thought continued on his way before colliding with something and falling on the floor with a subtle thud.

"Ow... Hey, watch it, will ya?!"

"Ugh... Hey, now. No need to get testy..." Kuro said as he grimaced from the fall and rubbed the back of his head.

"You know what? I'm about ready to-" It was then that their eyes met. Kuro's ultramarine eyes met a calm and gentle lilac. He stared at the young woman with back length golden hair in front of him. Her attire consisted of an orange scarf around her neck, and a brown leather jacket under which was a yellow t-shirt marked with what appeared to be a burning heart. The jacket was open at the front giving a generous view of her sizeable cleavage.

_'I'm going to do my best to keep looking straight.._.'

Anyways... the rest of the blonde's outfit was her lower legs being covered by her knee high platform boots and on her left leg was tied a single piece of blue cloth. Around her waist was hung a strange half-skirt, it covered her behind but left the front open allowing view to her black short-shorts.

Kuro looked astonished on the outside, but on the inside he was cheering. He'd recognize those eyes anywhere. It's freakin' Yang! He was ecstatic to finally see a familiar face around here. Although, the problem was: Does she recognize him? He pushed away this question in favor of standing up and offering his hand to her. Yang accepted it, but still held that annoyed look on her face.

"S-Sorry... I guess I really wasn't paying attention to where I was going..." Kuro blushed and scratched his cheek in embarrassment. Yang, on the other hand, settled for studying him thoroughly. Her eyes had a glint that said she liked what she saw. Upon seeing Kuro's blushing face, she immediately picked up on who was and a sly smirk decorated her flawless face.

"Well, you always did have two left feet..." Yang mentioned.

"Yeah, that's usually... Wait, what?" Kuro stopped mid-sentence when he felt a pair of soft lips on his cheek. After a while, the feeling went as away and Kuro's eyes grew extremely wide.

"You remember me, don't you? 'Hedgehog?'" Kuro grimaced at being called by his stupid nickname before sighing.

"Yeah, I do. 'Ember...'"

"Lame..." Yang said flat-toned.

"Hey, it was either that or 'Sunflower.' Take your pick..."

"Sunflower sounds cool."

"Okay, then..."

"KURO!"

"What the-AAAAAAGH!" Kuro had zero time to react before a black blur pinned him to the carpet floor. Taking a moment to sit up he saw a familiar head of short black hair that faded to red coupled with shining silver eyes with held a gleam of admiration. She wore a dark red cloak that ended to around her kneecaps. The rest of her attire was a corseted skirt of red and black with a plain black belt with a rose buckle. Kuro deduced since Yang was here then that meant this girl was-

"You've grown up a little bit, Ruby." Ruby lifted her head and angrily pouted at the older boy.

"Yeah, right! Try 'a lot!'"

"Sure, whatever, Rosebud..."

"Nice to see you, too, Hedgehog..." Ruby bopped Kuro's head, just like she did whenever she thought Kuro was asleep during their year together. Kuro, accustomed to this, simply rolled his eyes before forcing Ruby off of him.

"So, why are you on an airship heading to Bea-" Kuro connected the dots on this one. "...No way.." he gave an amused smile.

"Way. Rubes here got accepted to Beacon, too!" Yang explained as she slung her arm over Ruby's shoulders.

"Wow! Well, that's a thing..."

"Hey! No stealing lines now." Yang chastised and Kuro rolled his eyes. "Though more importantly-" Yang's tone took a seductive turn, somewhat scaring Kuro. She then traced a finger sensually up his left arm, copping a feel on his chiseled features.

"I'm more interested in these big arms you've got. And the things that we could do with them..." she whispered that last one in his ear, making him freeze.

"Yang! Kuro's feeling very uncomfortable right now!" Ruby yelled at her sister.

"You think that, but I know otherwise..." Yang shifted her hand all over Kuro's chest and down to his abdomen.

"And I know that you're probably letting hormones do the talking for you. Please stop."

"You're no fun..." For the third time, Kuro rolled his eyes.

"Well, I try," Kuro merely responded as the airship finally touched solid ground...

Kuro was passed by Jaune, who pushed through the entire crowd of people in frantic search of a waste receptacle to deposit the rest of his breakfast. Kuro sighed and face palmed and was about ready to go after him until a sneeze and an explosion was heard. Kuro examined to the left and saw Ruby standing dazed in a crater and a girl in white yelling at her. Jaune had already arrived at the scene, so Kuro merely shrugged and headed off in another direction.

* * *

Later that night, after going through an introduction by Glynda and the headmaster, a not-so-old-but-not-so-young man in green named Ozpin, the students were required to sleep in the ball room of the academy. Kuro was in the bathroom brushing his teeth as he remembered their words. His sleeping attire was a simple white beater, black shorts, and his red scarf still draped around his neck. He let his hair loose and it came to just past his shoulders.

"Tomorrow's the big day, Kuro... and I am FREAKING OUT!" Jaune panicked from beside him. Kuro rolled his eyes and rinsed his mouth of any remaining toothpaste as he stared judgingly at the blond.

"Relax, Jaune. We'll be fine... I hope..." Kuro walked away from Jaune back to the ballroom and hoped that Jaune hadn't heard that last part...

"You HOPE?!" Apparently, he did. Kuro groaned and face palmed. He turned around to retort but froze when he saw Jaune's choice of sleepwear: a simple, blue... onesie...

"Did you seriously brought that stupid onesie with you?"

"Hey! It's comfortable! It's doing its job!" Jaune said as he motioned his hands up and down his sides.

"Whatever. And of anyone asks, we don't know each other..." Kuro walked off, completely ignoring all of the guys in one side of the room flexing for the girls on the other side.

"Don't hate the onesie, bro!"

* * *

_Later..._

Kuro tried going to sleep when he had heard a voice from the girls' side of the room. Turning around to the side, he saw Ruby, Yang, the white haired girl whose hair was now undone from her off-centered ponytail, and another girl with long, black hair and half lidded amber eyes reading a book. Something clicked in Kuro's mind at the sight of the black haired girl, most specifically the black bow seated on top of her head.

'Is that...? ...Nuh-uh. Shut UP! No way! This is awesome!' he thought as he neared the four girls, the former three noticing his arrival.

"Hey, Ruby. Hey, Yang. Hey... uhh..." Kuro tried to think of her name.

"We've never met before." she deadpanned.

"Thank you, pretty lady..." Kuro said sincerely, completely unaware of the girl's deep blush.

"Her name is Weiss Schnee," Ruby told him and he nodded.

"Okay, then... What's the big problem here? I almost fell asleep when I heard screaming."

"Well, Rubes wanted to talk to her new friend, but Ice Queen here started yelling at us."

"Don't you two know how many people were trying to sleep?! And now you've gone and woken this one up with your pointless conversation!"

"I have a name..." Kuro muttered inaudibly, offended about being seemingly ignored by the three. Not that it mattered to him anymore since there's one other reason that he came. He quietly walked up to the girl who was reading and sat beside her. An awkward silence followed until Kuro broke it.

"So, I see you've kept my scarf, huh Blake?" he whispered as he had noticed that she was wearing a red scarf around her neck. Blake took her eyes away from her story and darted them towards the boy, cracking a small, but genuine smile.

"I never went without it..." she whispered back as she squeezed his hand before bringing hers back to her book. Kuro smiled brilliantly and finally thought to himself:

_'Things are definitely starting to shape up.'_

* * *

**_And... prologue's done. ...Yay..._**

**_TBH: I just winged it in this chapter. I hope it turned out okay, though..._**

**_For those of you who are confused, Kuro's mentality before going to Beacon is still of a child wanting attention. As such, because of his lonely nature, he seeks solace in any other person and that's where Ruby, Yang, Blake, and Jaune come in. Despite only knowing Blake for a day, Kuro values her as a friend to the point of appearing clingy._**

**_~ Peace!_**


	3. The Pawn Relic

**Just so you guys are aware: this story only follows canon until after initiation. After that, it's all original content.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. It belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

**...R.I.P. Monty :-(**

**Key: ("People talking at the same time")**

* * *

Kuro and Jaune are currently situated in the locker room, talking about nothing too terribly important... that was until Kuro talked about the numerous types of Grimm that he had to deal with during his life of solitude.

"...I'm telling you, Jaune. Be careful of those Boarbatusks. I say this because one tackle from that thing incapacitated me for five days. Imagine what it'd do you a scraggly guy like you..." Kuro teased at the end.

"Ha ha, very funny..." Jaune said sarcastically as he strapped Crocea Mors onto his waist. After he closed his locker, both boys saw Weiss talking to another girl with magma red hair in a long ponytail and emerald green eyes wearing Spartan armor (I can't describe it very well, so I will not embarrass myself by trying). After the redhead walked away, Weiss started making poses with a less-than-sane expression on her face. Kuro was creeped out but then noticed that Jaune merely walked up to her regardless.

_'This... will not go well...'_ he thought as he gave chase. He heard the word 'great' from the heiress and, knowing Jaune, paled further.

_'Scratch that: this REALLY won't go well...'_

"You know what else is great: Me. Hoping you and I could be in the same team." Jaune says smoothly. Weiss finally noticed his presence and glared at him as if he were a parasite.

"Oh... You again..."

Kuro face palmed at his brother's attempts at flirting, but then noticed that the other girl's face brightened at his appearance.

"The teams this are actually comprised of four students, so-"

"Well then, it could be you, me, and Snow Angel here!" Weiss's eye twitched at the ridiculous nickname.

"Wait-What about me?" Kuro asked dejectedly from behind the three. They all turned to him and Weiss immediately recognized him. She rolled her eyes with a sigh.

"What about you? Seriously, though, if you think that I'm going to team up with this blond buffoon then you are sadly mistaken!"

("Ow. Hurtful.") both Arcs deadpanned simultaneously, eliciting amused laughter from the redhead. The boys then look at each other incredulously.

("We seriously need to stop th-")

("Stop saying everything that I'm saying!")

("It's not me! It's you!")

("Shut up! AAAAGHH! Hmph!")

They looked away from each other with their arms crossed. Weiss looked at the pair with disbelief while the redhead tried to stifle her laughs. Kuro sighs and places an apologetic hand on Jaune's shoulder before the latter addresses the redhead.

"Anyways... I almost forgot-," Jaune held his hand out to the Spartan girl. "The name's Jaune Arc. It's nice to meet you. Oh, and that right there is my brother, Kuro."

"Hey." Kuro greeted simply, ignoring the feeling that he might have seen her before.

"The feeling's mutual, you two." she retorts, but before she could return Jaune's gesture, Weiss got between the three of them.

"Wait-Jaune and Kuro, was it-do you not know who this is?" she points at the redhead. Both Arcs shared a glance briefly.

("Should we?")

"She's Pyrrha Nikos." Weiss informs them, however due to the boys' blank stares she elaborates further.

"She's graduated at the top of the class in Sanctum..."

No reaction...

"Four time Mistral Regional Tournament..."

"Wow! Congrats, Pyrrha! But I've still never heard of any Mistral Tournament..." was Jaune's reply. He was unaware of Pyrrha's pink tinted face.

"Ditto." was Kuro's.

"She is on the box of every Pumpkin Peeps Marshmallow Flakes box!"

("Ooohhhhhhhhhh")

"I love that cereal." Kuro mentions.

"-Even though it isn't good for you..." Pyrrha muttered.

"Doesn't stop us from eating it, though~" Kuro wagged his finger playfully, making Pyrrha giggle again.

"So after hearing all about her, do either one of you seriously still think you're fit to join her team?"

"Do you?" Kuro retorted with a know-it-all expression.

"Indubitably..."

"Nice use of big words, Weiss, but I'm afraid whoever Pyrrha teams up with is not of your jurisdiction." Pyrrha places her hand on Kuro's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. We have no idea how the teams will be chosen this year." Kuro pats Pyrrha's arm twice as thanks before walking away.

* * *

_Outside..._

All of the students were lined up and standing on their own launch pads. The Arc brothers were standing at the very end of the row. Kuro was next to Ruby, patting her on the head in an attempt to calm her nerves. It wasn't working.

"STOP THAT! What if I end up with a teammate that I don't even know or like?!" Ruby silently screamed as Ozpin was still talking.

"Ruby... Chill out. Look at all your options. It's cool. You'll make some more friends besides me and Jaune. This is a good opportunity and you'll be fine."

"But-" Ruby was launched into the forest before she could argue further. Kuro turned to Glynda and Ozpin with a deadpanned expression uttering "Thank you" before he was hurled at incredible speeds towards the Emerald Forest.

* * *

Kuro was enjoying his personal flight above the forest, but quickly realized that instead of doing his best bird impression like an idiot, he REALLY should be finding a landing strategy as everyone had reminded him of. A flash of red and yellow went past Kuro and careened straight at Jaune, catching him by the hood.

"LATER, BROOOOOO!" Kuro yelled over Jaune's girlish screams. "Okay, I've had enough air time..." Kuro closed his eyes and concentrated. A few seconds later, a white light flashed in his eyes and upon opening them, his eyes had turned into a silvery white color and his body felt so much lighter. Turning his back towards the ground, Kuro shot a potent blast of wind from his finger, causing him to careen to the earth below. He turned himself around again and extended his hand out to a fast approaching tree branch, swung and jumped from it, and skidded along the ground into a clearing in the forest.

"Welp. Time to find a partner." Kuro walked through the shrubbery and eventually saw another clearing. Hiding behind a tree, he saw Yang by her lonesome fighting against one Ursa Major. The fight got interesting in his opinion until he saw a stray strand of the blonde's hair fall to the ground.

Shit got real at that point as Yang exploded in a fit of rage, her eyes turning from their usual lilac to a burning crimson as she went totally BERSERK on the poor Ursa, knocking it out in one hit. Kuro's eyes turned into saucers as he slowly eased away at the display of anger.

_'No... Just no...'_ he thought as he channeled wind into his legs and sped off to look for an alternative for a partner. Ten minutes later, he looked to the right and saw Pyrrha with Jaune and Ruby with... Weiss.

_'Poor Rosebud...'_ Kuro felt sympathy at first until he heard Ruby yell "You came back!" in a happy tone. _'Actually... She'll be fine._' He was brought out of his musings when he heard booming footsteps from in front and behind him. Approaching him were two giant, scorpion-like Grimm: two Deathstalkers.

"Dust dammit! I don't even have a partner and already I'm getting ambushed..." Kuro complained as he got ready for the Deathstalkers' attack. One of their giant stingers plunged towards Kuro, who dodged to the side as swift as the wind. The other one followed suit, but it also missed. Kuro jumped away from them, his eyes turning a light blue as he swung his arm around launching small ice darts in their direction. Unfortunately, they served little to no purpose as they all simply shattered after making contact with their hard exoskeleton Kuro cursed silently before he charged straight at them again.

His eyes changed color again, this time into a grassy green, and flicked his wrist causing vines to appear underneath one Deathstalker. Those vines were very thick and sturdy as they tore through its flesh, a pool of black blood spilling from the wound. However, even with that heavy injury, the Deathstalker managed to grab hold of Kuro with its stinger and dragged him painfully against the ground and into the air. He could react in time before the second one whipped him in the back, making him hit the ground hard and he was slightly embedded into it.

Kuro was dazed and shakily got up, but the second Deathstalker grabbed him by the leg and slammed him repeatedly into nearby trees. It then flung him into the air again where the first one used its stinger to grab him by the back of his shirt and threw him straight through a row of trees. Kuro struggled to get up, but the Deathstalker duo had other ideas.

The first one hoisted him over the two and the second one coiled its stinger around him as well, both of them intent on crushing him to death. Kuro struggled painfully, progressively losing the feeling in his everything. He grits his teeth as the pain became too much to bear.

_'Didn't wanna play this card, but... I am going to die if I don't...'_ Kuro thought morbidly before focusing hard yet again. The area surrounding him started getting brighter and the light around him grew in size the more he concentrated. The Deathstalkers crushed him tighter intent on stopping him from doing whatever it is what he was going to do. Before they could deliver the coup d'etat, Kuro literally exploded in a flash of bright light, snapping their stingers right from their bodies.

After the light died down, it revealed Kuro looking very different from before. His normal black hair became a light brown fading into lime green. His eyes were constantly shifting between every color of the known spectrum. A red orb was embedded on his forehead with red markings running down each side of his face and stopping just below his chin. A large cloth that looked like moss was wrapped around his left shoulder and under his arm pit. His normal outfit changed into a collage of forestry decorating a dirty brown tunic. His baggy pants remained, but his white boots turning into shin high, brown ones and his body was bathed in an array of colors with swirling leaves around his lower legs and feet. He radiated with the power of nature and he had even gained the ability to shift the air currents around him, giving his the ability to glide through the air.

_'Last time, I could maintain my Semblance for only fifteen minutes if I'm not fighting seriously, then I'd need about six hours to recharge. But this shouldn't take even one!'_ Kuro strategized before diving for both Deathstalkers. He turned into a bolt of lightning and tore through the bone armor of one, grabbed the discarded stinger, stabbed it into its owner's eye and finished things off by shooting a larger ice shard into its exposed flesh, brutally killing it as it faded away into oblivion.

Kuro turned towards the remaining Deathstalker and slowly approached before shooting vines into its eyes, blinding it. It screeched out in pain while Kuro drew his bow and pulled back, creating an arrow shaped vine and released causing the sturdy projectile to pierce through it, splitting it in half. Its body falls heavily as it disappeared. Kuro smirked victoriously while dusting his hands off until hearing a birdlike screech from up above him. Looking up, he saw an avian Grimm fly past him. Flying higher off of the ground, he squinted and saw two small figures, one on its back and one being held by its talons. Kuro paled and panicked as he waved his arms spastically.

"NO! Rosebud! Get down from there! Damn it!" He wasted no time in speeding behind them.

* * *

Ozpin was sipping his coffee while watching the students in his Scroll with Glynda behind him doing the same.

"Our final pairs are: Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie; and Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos." she noted. Ozpin grunted in affirmation.

"Well, Mr. Arc has found a very capable partner. I sense great things approaching." he commented.

"But there is the matter of Kuro Arc. He still does not have a partner and all of the other students have paired up with somebody." Glynda addressed.

"I am aware of that."

"And you're just going to dismiss it?"

"I've had a feeling that Kuro has more potential at being the only single man during this year for some time. His battle with those two Deathstalkers is something that I can attest to."Ozpin stated vaguely and Glynda sighed.

It had been written in his transcripts that he had lived in the wild alone for ten years (would've been thirteen, but it's ten considering his one year with Ruby and Yang, and his two with Jaune) but that was too farfetched in her mind.

"I can tell that Kuro has a strong sense of independence hidden inside. He seemed highly competent in surviving on his own and you and I both know that there will be times where one must perform tasks alone."

"But having only one student handle such tasks based solely on his orphaned and lonely background is a bit farfetched. Wouldn't it make more sense to have more students undertake this?" Ozpin merely smirked.

"In due time, Glynda. I'm just going to say that this is experimental."

"Very well, sir. Also, if you do not mind me asking, what exactly did you use for the relics this year?" Ozpin stiffened in the middle of a sip of coffee.

_'This... will not end well for me...'_ he thought bitterly.

* * *

_Meanwhile... with Blake and Yang_

Both girls clad in black and yellow stood in the middle of a circle containing the relics: all of which were chess pieces. Yang stood impatiently, waiting for something exciting to happen while Blake occupied her time by sitting on a nearby stone and reading.

"Hey, Blake? One question." Yang broke the silence and Blake looked up at her with her amber orbs.

"What?"

"You really like wearing black. So, what's up with that red scarf on your neck. It's, like, the only non-black thing you wear." Yang couldn't see it, but a smile tugged Blake's lips as she remembered who gave it to her.

"A... friend gave this to me when I was little. And since then, I've never really gone without it."

"Oh? And who is this 'friend'?"

"He had black hair... and blue eyes... and he wore red a lot..." she vaguely answered. Yang rose an eyebrow and tilted her head. Moments later, she had an epiphany and pointed at her with a shocked expression.

"You mean to tell me that KURO is this alleged 'friend'?!" Blake offered no answer as if saying "No shit, Sherlock." Yang blinked twice before a new feeling curled up in her chest.

_'How come he never got me anything...? He's supposed to be mine...'_ Yang stopped that thought train before it could escalate. There was no way she had any inclination of feelings for the black haired boy.

_'Sure, he's nice, treats me like I'm special, puts everybody's happiness before his own, and... Wow, way to be clichéd, Yang...'_

Before Yang could continue, the sounds of twigs snapping filled the air and then Jaune and Pyrrha emerged, looking to be in a hurry for reasons unknown to her. She immediately recognized the blond boy.

"Vomit Boy?"

"'Vomit Boy?'" Pyrrha asked between breath intakes.

"Don't ask..." a disgruntled Jaune merely says.

* * *

_In the Skies..._

The large avian Grimm known as the Nevermore was flying monotonously through the skies while carrying its latest catch: a delicious looking girl in a red hood (Ruby) and a screaming white one (Weiss) that'd make a good appetizer. Unbeknownst to it, a flash of light was speedily tailing it, catching up with it by the second.

"I told you this would work!" Ruby yelled towards her partner.

"Shut up, you dolt! This is the most unnecessarily dangerous plan any idiot has ever come up with!" Weiss screamed, terrified and annoyed beyond belief. Ruby was ready to retort before a full body sized light appeared right in front of her. It was Kuro.

"Rosebud!" he called, obviously not pleased.

"Kuro? What happened to your... everything?" Ruby asked, almost not recognizing him.

"Why are YOU on a frickin' NEVERMORE?!" Kuro responded.

"See?! HE gets it!" Weiss screamed.

"Ugh... Whatever! Just get off of-"

"Ooh, hey! I see something!" Ruby cut him off by pointing downwards towards the platform with the relics. Without warning, Ruby leapt off of the Nevermore leaving a stunned Kuro and Weiss to watch her fall.

"Dust freaking dammit!" Kuro cursed as he sped down towards the falling redhead.

* * *

_On the surface..._

"HEEEEEEEEADS UUUUUUUUUUUUP!"

A voice screamed from above. The current party of Jaune, Pyrrha, Yang, and Blake looked upwards to see Ruby falling pretty fast.

"Ruby?!" Yang called.

"HIIIII, SIIIIIIIS!"

"Why is your sister falling out of the sky?" Blake asked.

"I don't know!" Yang answered.

"What's that thing following her?" Jaune noticed a pale light tailing the falling Ruby.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

Unbeknownst to them, Kuro was the light and was just about to catch her. He landed right before her and exits out of his Semblance, then runs straight at her with his arms outstretched.

"Gotcha, Rosebud!" he successfully caught her. Ruby blinked twice before registering whose arms she was in. She glanced upwards to meet Kuro's eyes and suddenly the area around them turned brighter (Anime-style!) and her silver eyes were shining brighter than any star. She looked at the boy with nothing but admiration and she was surrounded by small hearts.

"Thank you, Kuro~" she says with a dopey smile while gripping his scarf. Kuro, along with everyone else, sweat dropped at the display.

"You... You're welcome..." Kuro muttered before setting Ruby down and registering the people around him. "Hey, girls... and Jaune. Rosebud and I were just... y'know, dropping in..."

("Boo...") Jaune and Yang retort with a thumbs down. Blake shook her head while Pyrrha did the same, but with a wry smile.

"It's better than what you could come up with, Sunflower..." Yang humphed in response when an Ursa Major appeared from the forest, being ridden by a girl dressed in pink and followed by a young man in green with black hair and one pink strand. The girl in pink picked up the the took piece and started singing.

"I'm queen of the castle~! I'm queen of the castle~!"

"NORA!" the boy in green interrupted her by shouting.

"Coming, Renny~" she said excitably.

"Right..." Kuro mumbled while picking up the only pawn piece. "Now all that leaves is..."

"HOW COULD YOU TWO LEAVE ME UP HERE?!"

"...her..." Kuro finished as he and everyone else glanced upwards seeing Weiss still being carried by the Nevermore, looking pissed all the while.

"I TOLD YOU TO JUMP!" Ruby screamed.

"No, you didn't." Kuro corrected.

"Does it really matter?"

"Yes."

"She's gonna fall..." Ren said dryly.

"Eh. She's fine." Kuro stated.

"...and now she's falling..." Blake observed.

"She's fine." Ruby said.

"Someone should probably..." Pyrrha started but was interrupted.

"I've got this!" Jaune said from atop one of the tree branches. He kicked off of it and caught the falling heiress.

"Hey, what's up?" he muttered before realizing that he didn't have a landing strategy... again and both of them screamed as they fell. Kuro groaned and face palmed before he outstretched his arm, eyes turning green again, and a bed of vines was created underneath the two as he gently set them down, not before Weiss landed on Jaune and sarcastically muttered "My hero..."

"You alright there, Jaune-y?" Kuro asked. Jaune merely did the okay signal with his hand. The Nevermore then landed in front of the group of nine and screeched at them.

"Bring it on!" Kuro challenged and charged at it...

...only to be bitch slapped by one of its wings and sent flying in the opposite direction.

"AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaa-" his voice faded out as he flew away.

"Meep..." Jaune squeaked, almost needing a change in underwear.

"That doesn't look good..." Ren deadpanned.

"Yeah... Now I won't be able to die in the arms of a hot guy..." Yang complained.

"That looks fun!" Nora's eyes lit up and everyone simply glanced at her.

* * *

"...aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAHH! Ow..." Kuro landed on the far side of an old bridge face first. It took a little bit of effort to pry himself from the dirt. Gathering his bearings, he noticed that now he wasn't too far away from the school, but decided that he should wait for the others.

"Besides, they can take a Nevermore right? I can... after getting stuck in their nest... for one month... Crap!" Kuro sped off to go find them, only to be greeted by the sight of Ruby dragging the Nevermore by the neck up a cliff with her Crescent Rose before beheading it.

"So, I was worried over nothing then..." he mumbled before reuniting with the rest of them.

* * *

"Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long will make team RWBY. Led by... Ruby Rose." Ozpin announced the teams. Yang slung her shoulder around the girl made leader while Kuro ruffled her hair.

"I'm so proud of you!"

"You've reached level 36 and evolved into Fearless Leader! Good going, Rosebud!"

"Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Pyrrha Nikos, and Lie Ren will make team JNPR. Led by... Jaune Arc."

"Me?!" Jaune pointed to himself until Kuro slapped him on the back making him stumble.

"That's my bro! You're a leader! Go get 'em!" Kuro congratulated him.

"Yeah, it's the thrill of a lifetime..." the blond deadpanned as Pyrrha just patted his shoulder in support. However, what Ozpin said next threw everyone in the room for a loop.

"Before we close things off and let you get settled into your dorms, I must announce one final thing. As you are aware that you are put into teams in order to learn to value teamwork, there will be more times than not that one will have to survive and thrive by themselves as hunters. And as such I am pleased to announce Beacon Academy's first one-man team: Mr. Kuro Arc."

"What?!" the boy in the red scarf shouted everyone's thoughts when Ozpin placed something into his hand.

"This is the relic you had returned with, is it not?"

"Well, yeah, but what does a pawn piece have to do with me being a one-man army?"

"The pawn. A simple soldier and partner in arms to all. While in the face of an army, they are seen as insignificant. In the face of their comrades, that one soldier might prove to be the turning point of any battle." Teams RWBY and JNPR came from behind to listen more attentively. "Kuro. You get a head start on the other students for a long term mission: that is to be able to perform tasks alone, to assist any and all teams when the need arises, and handle yourself overall as you grow and prosper into a hunter."

"I dunno. This seems a little bit much for me..." both teams nodded in agreement, especially Jaune. Ozpin was well prepared for this response as evident by the knowing smirk on his face.

"There are some benefits to being the first to try this special program."

"Such as?"

"For one, you are permitted your own dorm room-"

Kuro looked at his headmaster blankly for a second before clenching his fist and smirking.

"I'm in," Ozpin chuckled inaudibly.

"In that case, then you are all dismissed." The students all filed out with a handful of them murmuring amongst themselves about Kuro's status as a solitary team. Some were jealous, others were afraid for him, and a few were confused as to how could he accept this mainly because he gets his own room. Kuro was about to go to his dorm along with teams RWBY and JNPR when Glynda stopped him with a firm grip on his shoulder.

"Headmaster Ozpin wishes to speak with you." Kuro was taken aback and looked back to his group of friends staring back at him. Glynda noticed his discomfort.

"I assure you that this will not take long. Now come along." Kuro silently complied as followed her to Ozpin's office. Arriving there, Glynda opens the door while motioning for him to enter.

Kuro hesitantly does so and sits on the chair located in front of Ozpin's desk. Ozpin himself was seated on his own chair with his usual cool and collected demeanor.

"Mr. Arc, I would like to discuss more about your current situation."

"Oh, yeah! Why did you make me-" Ozpin held his hand up, effectively shutting Kuro up.

"My reasons for doing so not only lies within the relic you hand procured, but also your background on your transcripts. You say that are a self-taught weapon expert, correct?"

"...Kinda... I am trying to broaden my range of weaponry, so I got a little carried away writing the stuff on there." Kuro scratched the back of his neck scarf. Ozpin's lips quirked upwards for a second before he spoke again.

"And then there is the matter of your claim to have lived in solitude for most of your life. Is that truly correct?" Ozpin asked albeit almost regretting it seeing the lonely glint showing up in Kuro's eyes.

"Yes, sir. I... am an orphan. I was alone right from the beginning," he says sadly. It was true. Jaune's family was the closest thing to a family that Kuro's ever had. He even adopted the family name, but to him...

...it still wasn't enough. He always had to mask his internal torment being a mask of a normal quirky teenage boy. He hated having sympathy from others. He may appreciate it, yes, but it also damages his own pride. The bow he wields was said to belong to his own father, so he always kept it with him. Even now, he sometimes had dreams of sitting in a nice little house with his mother and father talking, laughing, playing together like the perfect family until he woke up with tears streaming down his face.

He just wanted a family...

He needed a family...

Not an adopted one... One to call his own.

"Mr. Arc, I assure you. As long as you are here in Beacon, you will find solace in others. Learn to trust in them and build bonds with countless others and you shall not be alone anymore. That is all. You may leave." Kuro silently complied, getting off of his seat and heading for the door. Before gripping the doorknob, he looked towards Ozpin and Glynda one last time.

"Headmaster... Thank you..." he said with a true, genuine smile plastered on his face and then went out to meet with his friends.

* * *

_Extra! Kuro vs. Nevermore **Alt. Ending**_

_"You alright there, Jaune-y?" Kuro asked. Jaune merely did the okay signal with his hand. The Nevermore then landed in front of the group of nine and screeched at them._

_"Hooray. Now we can all die together..." Yang uttered sarcastically and then jumped right into Kuro's arms. "Now I can die in a hot guy's arms~" she purred._

_"Not quite." Kuro denied causing everyone to look at him. "I've got this."_

_Kuro fearlessly walked up to the avian Grimm. It screeched right in his face, but he remained undeterred and unmoving (mainly because he literally rooted his feet to the ground). It got ready to attack, but in a flash something hit it. A ball-shaped capsule lays on the ground and suddenly opened, dragging in the Nevermore inside of it. The capsule clicked, signifying it's complete capture as Kuro walked up and grabbed it._

_"Heh. Neat."_

* * *

**Yep! Kuro's on his own again! Ironic, huh? The whole pawn idea was something that I thought would fit here nicely, considering soldiers in battle will sometimes fight with no support.**

**Also, I drew a comic on the part where Kuro catches Ruby in Emerald Forest and it turned out okay.**

**Be sure to leave a vote on the poll I now have up!**

**I'll post it on my deviantART if anyone is interested. Just click the link on my profile when I do.**

**~ Peace!**

* * *

**Oh, and here's a little bit on Kuro's Semblance**

**Function****: Allows Kuro to control any element of nature, even metals and materialize natural objects (i.e.: flowers) out of thin air. He can communicate with animals as well. He can boost this even further by entering a sort of transformed state.**

**Weakness: Kuro's Semblance actually gets weaker while indoors, due to the limited amount of natural elements surrounding him. Also, if he's performing larger scale attacks, he must stay perfectly still and maintain a holding posture to ensure complete control. The transformed state however burns through his aura VERY quickly, and if he uses it for too long, he'll either enter a coma or die.**


	4. Combat Class & Kitty Love

**A lot of romance stuff that I pulled outta my arse in the later part of this chapter, so… there's your warning…**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. It belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

* * *

"Where the hell are they?" Kuro muttered to himself as he sat in his seat in the far right of his first class of the year. Only a couple students were present currently and more were arriving by the second.

Kuro was honestly waiting for teams RWBY and JNPR, having actually gotten there early to secure a seat. It was five minutes till class starts and still no sign of them. His doubts, however, were put to rest when eight teens bursted through the door just one minute before the bell. Kuro scratched the side of his head as they all sat together on the opposite side of the row, a few of them sparing him a passing glance.

The bell rings and a rather portly man with a moustache and perpetually closed eyes walked in and surveyed the students in front of him.

_'Okay. Time to assess: Fat man, eyes always closed, bushy moustache, first day of classes...'_

_'...Nope. Nope. Can't deal with it...'_ Kuro thought as he put his head down safely unseen...

...well, that was until-

"Ah! Mr. Arc!" Kuro's head shot up at the call. He looked between him and Jaune and then pointed at himself while mouthing 'me?'

"Yes, you. Why don't you show the class what it means to be a true hunter? We could definitely use a demonstration!" Professor Peter Port suggested. Kuro looked back to his right, hoping to find at least some semblance of salvation. Thankfully, the omnipotent being above him answered his silent prayer in the form of a fuming white-themed girl.

"Uh, Professor? Instead of me, why not Weiss over there? She seems very willing to do so."

'_And also seems obscenely pissed for some reason...'_

"Ms. Schnee?" Port glanced over to see a very excited (pissed off) Weiss raising her hand while glaring daggers at both Kuro and her red cloaked leader. "Very well, then! Ms. Schnee! If you would?"

"Gladly," was her prideful response. Kuro fist pumped with a goofy grin while an imaginary fanfare played in his head.

_'Mission: Success!'_

However, his self praise was short lived when he heard Weiss shouting at Ruby and storming out the door. The scarf wearing boy spared a silent conversation with his blond brother, who merely shrugged with an impish expression.

_'Just gonna stay away from that one...'_ he thought morbidly while Port continued to ramble on.

* * *

After Port's class ended, Kuro took time to wander the halls of his new school. Not even five minutes in, though, he collided with an unknown obstacle…

…Again

He stumbled, but managed to remain on his feet. Looking downwards to said obstacle, he met the impish eyes of a girl with brown hair and bunny ears—a Faunas.

"Do I hear two?" Kuro tossed an aside to the audience before addressing the bunny eared stranger.

"Sorry 'bout that. Here," Kuro helped her with the books currently splattered all over the floor. "By the way, my name's Kuro. Kuro Arc. And you're..." he let that sentence hang.

"I'm Velvet. Velvet Scarlatina. And thank you," Velvet answered with a bit of an accent. Kuro wanted to continue the conversation until-

"PANCAKES!"

"Pan-what?" Kuro parroted the unexpected voice until an orange blur whisked him away at unimaginable speeds. An always-excitable Nora Valkyrie hoisted Kuro over her shoulder whilst dragging her best friend, Lie Ren, by his collar as he was casually reading a book.

"What's up, Ren?"

"Hello."

* * *

Both boys' human vehicle stopped abruptly as she set Ren on his feet while unceremoniously dropping Kuro onto the floor.

"Ow..."

"Sorry, Porcupine..."

"Not even gonna question..." Kuro mumbled before stepping in line, to grab a light meal. He joined the BY of Team RWBY and Team JNPR at the lunch table, sitting in front of Jaune and next to Yang.

"Where's Beauty and the Beast?" he mainly pointed that question towards the two remaining members. Yang shrugged, but smirked at the nicknames for their missing leader and teammate respectively.

"Pretty sure 'The Beast' is having an emotional episode while our fearless leader tries consoling it." Blake threw in her two Lien.

("By Monty, she made a joke...") Kuro and Yang deadpanned simultaneously.

"Jinx!" Yang shouted quicker than Kuro could.

"Dust dammit..." Kuro cursed. Immediately after though, the missing huntresses-in-training of the group made themselves known by sitting on opposite ends of the table, one refusing to look at the other for reasons unknown. Ruby sat on Kuro's unoccupied spot on the left and started eating, Weiss doing the same. Yang and Kuro glanced at each other with a shrug.

"So, Rosebu—OW!" Kuro tried breaking the ice, but Ruby simply pinched his thigh… hard… meaning that she did NOT want to speak to him.

"Ruby? Is something wrong?" Yang asked cautiously.

"Nope. I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Ruby responded flatly.

"Well for one, you're eating actual breakfast instead of cookies—" From the corner of her vision, Yang saw Ruby's hand reach down precariously into a red bin. Closing her eyes halfway, she reached over and swiped the container from her, ignoring her screams of protest.

"Anyways… I'm asking you because you're still pinching Hedgehog over here." True to the blonde's words, Ruby's fingers were still twisting Kuro's skin through his trousers so tight that Kuro's eyes started tearing up and he was biting his lip, girlish squeaks of pain escaping him. Ruby finally released her grip on the boy's poor thigh as he clutched it tenderly, whispering sweet nothings all the while. Ruby grew flustered and apologized in rapid succession while Kuro continued to tend to the injured area.

"This is normally the part where I praise your strength…" Ruby blushed embarrassingly. "…but the searing pain I'm feeling has made me forget what exactly I was gonna say, so… GG, Ruby. GG. Moving on, what's got you and Weiss so mad?" Ruby shot a quick glare to the impassive heiress, then whispered so that only Kuro and Yang could hear her.

"Weiss… She took my cookies without asking!"

The two older teens were stumped at this. Here they (Kuro) thought that Ruby would invoke some sort of… adventure where they would all learn the values of life and friendship and probably find some sort of oracle of magical power and fulfill a prophecy—but, nope! It's just Ruby's cookies… but, then again, they do remember what happened the last time Ruby found missing cookies in her bin.

…Never again.

It was then that Yang looked at Kuro expectantly, eyes narrowed as if saying 'I know you'd better tell her…' Kuro shrugged, knowing what she was insinuating but was trying to play it off. Yang's eyes slowly but surely bled vermilion, a silent threat. Kuro paled, remembering what happened the last time her eyes got like that, and slumped his shoulders with a sigh.

"Um… Rosebud…" he called out. Ruby lifted her head from her moment of silence honoring the fallen cookies.

"Uh… Actually… Weiss… wasn't the one who stole your cookies…"

"Told her…" said white-themed girl muttered as she continued eating.

"Then who did…?" Ruby asked in a sickly sweet tone, making Kuro falter.

"…It… was… me…" Kuro answered slowly. Ruby just sat there staring blankly. The BY of RWBY and Team JNPR took a look at the interaction between the two. To people who weren't Kuro and Yang, Ruby was still as a rock. To the latter two, she was slowly reaching for Crescent Rose while an uncomfortably sweet smile adorned her cute face.

"Hedgehog…"

"Yes, Yang?"

"You'd better ru—"

"YOU'D BETTER RUN, BOY!" Nora shouted, adding extra emphasis on the word 'run'.

"Meep…" Kuro quick devoured his food then sped off by channeling wind into his feet using his Semblance, Nature. The scythe wielder swung out her beloved and darted off after the boy.

"Ku~ro! Come baaaack~! I just wanna give you a little love tap~"

**"NOOOOO!"**

…May Monty have mercy on his poor soul…

* * *

Kuro hissed again as the nurse rubbed the cotton ball infused with healing dust on an injured part of his head. While this went on, Kuro reminded himself of Key Rule #3: Don't Touch Ruby's Cookies. Speaking of Ruby, she was sitting next to him on the bed, legs crossed and stroking Crescent Rose lovingly while sending a pouting glare at Kuro. A few more painful dabs later, the nurse threw the cotton ball in the garbage.

"Okay, Mr. Arc. You're free to go. Please be more careful next time," she advised him.

"Oh, don't you worry…" the boy responded sheepishly while nervously homing his eyes towards the scythe wielder. Ruby stuck her tongue out, then dragged him out of the infirmary by his scarf. The bell signalling the end of lunch had rang right when they stepped out the door and it was now time for Combat Class with Glynda Goodwitch.

From there, Kuro learned a little but more about each of his new friends' fighting styles. Ruby's was more speed oriented. Weiss utilizes her Dust infused rapier to create Glyphs to aid her in battle. Blake can create doppelgängers of herself along with using her Gambol Shroud to blindside opponents. Yang focuses on close combat and can tank damage and add it on to her own strength.

On Team JNPR, Kuro already knows of Jaune's defend then counter strategy. Nora's tremendous strength allows her to swing her giant hammer with great ease and the fact that it doubles as a grenade launcher just amazes and scares him at the same time. Pyrrha's fighting style is a perfect combination of ranged attacjs as well as melee using her weapons, named Miló and Akouó. Ren's twin pistols allow him to do twice the damage of traditional single use guns. His close combat skills also aid in letting him end the fight.

When it came down to it, Kuro made a mental note that if you piss any of them off then you're outright fucked… right in the down-under.

Kuro was in the middle of reflecting when suddenly…

"Jaune Arc versus Kuro Arc. Would both boys please enter the arena?"

…it was his time to shine. And against Jaune of all people. Both boys shared a glance while walking towards the arena, not taking their eyes off of each other all the while. Kuro had a small smirk while Jaune was a bit anxious, but Kuro could see a twinge of… excitement? That's definitely new to him.

Now at the arena, Jaune and Kuro drew their respective weapons as Miss Goodwitch announces "Begin!" and both charge at each other, Kuro's dual blades against Jaune's Crocea Mors. A contest of strength between them ensues while they banter a bit.

"How long has it been since we've fought like this again?" Kuro asked as he pushed Jaune away from him before swiping the right-handed blade inwards, which Jaune sidestepped, then quickly assembling the blades and performing a wide outwards clearing turn slash. The last slash hit Jaune's shield as he then countered with an overhead swing downwards, causing Kuro to back up in response. Kuro skids across the floor before releasing a barrage of shots towards the blond boy who hid behind his shield.

"About six weeks…" he sighed as his arm started to give out under the intensity. Jaune, applying the little knowledge of Aura that he had, focused some onto his feet and leapt up before readying another over head swing. Kuro retaliates by shifting his body and doing a somersault kick to Jaune's chin before correcting himself and launching a roundhouse kick. Jaune saw a third kick coming before raising his shield and bashing Kuro's face with the hilt of Crocea Mors. Jaune and Kuro's aura seeped down to 79% and 83% respectively.

"Huh… Mmkay… The usual deal?" Kuro asked while spinning his bow like a buzz saw. Jaune only nodded while defending with his shield, causing sparks to fly. Jaune then catches Kuro off guard with a leg sweep followed by a horizontal swing, shaving 10% off his Aura meter. He tried to kick Kuro again, but the spiky haired boy caught wind immediately and grabbed his leg mid swing. He follows up by rolling on his back and handstand kicking Jaune upwards, shooting upwards towards him and nailing him in the abdomen. Jaune's Aura meter went down about 15%.

"Ow! Do we really have to?" Jaune asked/complained.

"Don't be such a baby, Vomit Boy! With all the practice you and I have done before coming to Beacon, I thought we'd have killed the whiney little girl in ya!" Kuro retorted and the fight resumed, both boys chipping away at the other's Aura meters. The five minute fight reached a climax when they both checked their scrolls and found their Auras at 15% each. They stood sweating and panting as fatigue finally showed its ugly face. Kuro wasted no time in dashing towards Jaune, the latter steeling himself for the former's next move.

_'Just a little bit… a little bit…'_ Kuro thought before attempting to jab at Jaune. As he predicted, the blond raised his shield, albeit slowly as his arm was tired. Kuro smirked and focused his Semblance into his feet (at the expense of 3% of his Aura meter) and seemingly disappeared, but had actually circled around to his side and strapping his bow onto his back. He next took advantage of Jaune's shocked state and ran towards him once again and delivered a reverse spin kick towards the blond's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending his Aura meter down to 10%.

"Kuro Arc is the winner," Miss Goodwitch announced. Kuro walked towards the fallen Arc, helped him to his feet and slung his arm over his shoulder. Miss Goodwitch looked at the pair expectantly.

"I suppose I don't need to ask…" Kuro nodded and proceeded to walk Jaune to the infirmary to rest…

…only to have him pass out from exhaustion as well before he even made it off of the arena.

* * *

Kuro was slowly fading back into the world as his vision was engulfed by white… and then red and yellow. He then heard the sounds of talking.

"Ha! I told you he'd wake up!"

"Yeah, but is he supposed to be flailing around like that?"

"Wha…?"

"I'M DROWNING! I'M DROWNING! **OH, DUST! I'M DROWNIIIIIING!**" Kuro panicked and flailed about before his eyes snapped open and met a pair of silver ones.

"Rosebud?" Kuro noticed his voice sounded nasally and lifted a hand towards it, only to find two fingers jammed up both of his nostrils. Following the hand up, he saw a familiar mane of gold and popped a vein.

"**YANG!** Girl, what the **HELL?!**" he yelled. He roughly swatted the blonde brawler's hand away from him.

"You didn't wake up when we said your name."

"What about shaking me awake?"

"I tried to tell them to either do that or wait, but they didn't listen to me…" came a response from the dark clad Faunus-in-disguise, still wearing the scarf Kuro gave her all those years ago.

"No one ever listens to the intelligent one, Blake. It's the rules of being in a team… I think…" Kuro suggested. Blake stared at him briefly before letting out a silent sigh and returning to her book. Kuro paid no heed to this and studied the infirmary room, then turned his attention back to the sisters.

"How's Jaune?"

"Vomit Boy? He was already up and running before we got here." Yang answered.

"Wait. 'Vomit Boy?'"

"That's Yang's nickname for him." Ruby enlightened him.

"How'd he get it?" Kuro asked with a slight chuckle.

"He puked on Yang's shoe on the air flight here on our first day."

("Ew…") Kuro and Blake grimaced.

"I'm sorry I asked…" the former muttered rhetorically. He jumped off the bed, kicking the air to fully wake up his legs, and stretched out his stiffened muscles.

"So, did you three just come to check on me and Jaune, or is there something else you had in mind?" He shifted his head around and was greeted by three blushing faces.

…Well, two blushing faces while the third's held that seductive smirk that Kuro had grown to be somewhat afraid of. They did want to check on him, but at the same time they did have plans for if it was just the two of them; ranging from feeding each other their favorite foods (Ruby), sitting together in comfortable silence while having their ears out without fear of being judged or mocked (Blake), or… other things that really shouldn't be talked about for the viewers' sake—Oh, to Hell with it! Yang wanted to ride his meat stick! Oh, Dust, I just said that out loud, didn't I? Yep, Yang just quirked her eyebrows in acknowledgment while sauntering towards the boy.

"More than you know, Hedgehog~" she wrapped her arms around Kuro's neck, pulling him close and causing her soft, ample bosom to press onto his back.

"Uh… Sunflower?" Kuro shifted uncomfortably only to have Yang pull him in closer, increasing the feeling of two, balloon shaped objects pressing on his back.

"Watching you and Vomit Boy go at it like that made me… feel things all over my body."

"Like… what…?" Kuro asked. He could swear he can hear the sexy saxophones playing in the background.

"Like the types of things only married couples should feel… or do, is more like it…" Yang started nibbling on Kuro's earlobe.

"Yang!"

"Yang, behave…"

Ruby and Blake came to his rescue, though, and the blonde immediately stopped while putting her hands up.

"Alright, alright. You two should know by now that I'm just joking. Nice blushes, by the way," Yang pointed out before leaning towards Kuro's ear, moving his black hair away from it.

_"…Not really…"_ she whispered, then blew into his ear. Kuro's face exploded into a deep shade of red at the sensation and stood slack jawed. Ruby, on the other hand, stomped on his foot to snap him out of it and darted after her sister before he could question her. Blake watched in slight embarrassment and amusement at Kuro's adorkable display of tending to his hurt foot.

"You did well in your fight, Kuro," she says with a jab to his arm. Kuro smirked at the compliment. "But I can tell that you were restraining yourself just a little bit. Don't. Jaune can't get any stronger if you baby him."

"Ehhh… I got it."

"Kuro. I mean it."

Kuro responds by patting Blake's head affectionately. She, however, didn't take too kindly of this. In fact, she looked downright offended. His hands occasionally brushed up against her cloth covered ears, causing them to twitch at the sensation. But she made no move to stop him as it was a secret to everyone, even to some of the other Faunus back when she was with the White Fang, that she liked it when her ears were touched. She especially loved it when Kuro touched them. The first time this had happened was six years ago when they were in Tukson's library reading and Kuro innocently asked if he could touch them. The end result was Blake nuzzling into his chest as per her feline nature. Up to date, he is the only person ever to have touched her ears.

Back to the present, both black haired teens lay together on the infirmary bed. Blake had kitty-tackled Kuro on the nearest bed due to his magic hands on her ears. Although, she was fighting back the content purrs to preserve the waning dignity she had left.

_'Is he doing this on purpose?'_ she was thinking before Kuro asks something that threw her for a loop.

"Hey, Blake? Since no one's coming in here for a while now, can I… touch your ears again?"

_'YOU ALREADY ARE, YOU FIEND!'_

"F-Fine… B-But only for a little bit…" Blake complied before slowly reaching for the bow on her head. She gave a nervous glance with her amber orbs only to he met with Kuro's reassuring, yet calming ultramarine. She gripped and pulled, freeing her cute black feline appendages which twitched at the cold air.

"Thank you."

Kuro slowly rubbed at the back of Blake's ears, taking note of the smooth velvety—**"Achoo!" Bless you, Velvet**—texture. His ears were assaulted by Blake's purring as she had ultimately given up on suppressing them. She laid herself on Kuro's chest, nuzzling into the boy's brown vest while purring still. She felt Kuro's strong arms envelop her as she continued to stroke. She looked up at him.

Him. Kuro. Her first, true friend. The first person to not care about her heritage. The first to act so casually with the knowledge that she was once a part of the White Fang. He was her light. The small flicker of hope in the dark realm to which she must call reality. But most of all…

…he was her first love…

Yes, she'll admit it: Blake Belladonna, Faunus and huntress-in-training, was enamored of Kuro Arc, a human. She could not remember exactly when these feelings started to blossom. She believed it happened a while after the old White Fang leader resigned. Or maybe even after they parted ways at the docks and he gave her his scarf, which has never once left her side. The more she had it with her, the more the memories of him began flooding her mind. All of which were welcomed with open arms. She even remembered one day she was sent to near hysteria when she misplaced it, but one of her comrades was seen wearing it…

…only to later be left tied up to a column far off from her sleeping quarters with numerous bruises on his everything.

But long story short, the more she was away from him, the more she yearned for him. So to say that she was happy when she saw him in the same training facility as her would be the understatement of the millennium.

Of course, with her slightly introverted nature, she doesn't know what to do or say. She was an expert at many things, but romance was something that she was still a little rough around the edges on.

…Despiteallthesmutshereads! What…?

"K-Kurrrrro…" Blake tried speaking through her purring. The boy stopped mid action to her disappointment in order to let her articulate her words more clearly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad that I got to meet you… I never told you that before…"

"Well…" Kuro hugged the cat Faunus tighter. "I'm glad to have met a Faunus. Especially one as cool as you are."

_'Even though there's Velvet. Never got to talk to her, really. Thanks, Nora…'_

* * *

"Achoo!" a certain Valkyrie sneezed in the midst of sitting on her favorite seat.

"Bless you, Nora." said seat, Lie Ren, responded.

"Thanks, Renny!"

* * *

Blake couldn't stop the increased heating of her face as they continued to hold each other close for the next five minutes until the end of class bell rang.

Later that night, Kuro had called all of teams RWBY and JNPR to his room, they all had arrived in their sleeping attire, sans Jaune who was not present at the time. Weiss, not one for wasting time, got straight to them point.

"So, what could you have possibly wanted from all of us, Arc?"

"Okay, A: attitude. Fix it. And B…" Right on cue, a knock could be heard from the door and a large Cheshire grin appeared on Kuro's face. He turned the knob and swung the door open…

…revealing a very embarrassed Jaune Arc, clad in a banana costume with a maraca in each hand. The entire room became alit with laughter. Kuro, Ruby, Yang, and Nora's were the loudest, Ren just smiled in amusement, Blake pretty much did the same under the cover of her book, and Pyrrha giggled into her hand. Hell—even Weiss had trouble keeping in a few good chuckles.

"Oh, Dust! Oh-Oh-oh-oh, sweet Oum! What is—What is Vomit Boy wearing, Hedgehog?!" Yang asked, trying to catch her breath.

"Yes, I think we'd all like to know." Ren concurred.

"Well, while we were in Miss Goodwitch's, Jaune and I made a little wager during our match. And this is what the loser has to do."

"Dress up in a banana costume?" Pyrrha inquired.

"Not just that, Pyr…" Kuro reached for a small boom box in his closet, placed it near his bed and switched it on. "…but this!"

_'It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!_

_Peanut Butter Jelly Time!_

_Peanut Butter Jelly Time!_'

It was then that Jaune started dancing wildly while shaking his maracas, looking somewhat into it. The room was filled with a mix of the music and everyone's laughter. Weiss, Ren, and Blake had to cover their laughing faces with a pillow, their hands, and a book respectively. The original four's mirthful laughter turned uproarious while Pyrrha started laughing harder whilst clapping in amusement.

Tonight was a good night for the nine teens, despite one of them managing to make a fool out of himself.

* * *

Unbeknownst to any of them, a lone figure was standing atop a tree branch. They held a small device attached to their wrist near their mouth.

"This is recon unit A. I've located our target and am awaiting further instructions."

**"Very good. Now, return to base and rest. Your next mission is a big one and we cannot afford any slip ups."**

The voice in the communicator left no room for further discussion and cut the link. The figure sighed at their boss's hasty decisions before taking one last glance at the spiky haired boy.

"I've finally found you… at long last…"

A sadistic grin placed itself on the figure's face.

**"I wonder just how good your blood will taste?"**

* * *

***Gasp!* Jaune can fight already?! You fiend! Yeah, I didn't want to make Kuro nor Jaune seem too powerful (yet…). Against Beacon students, I want them to be on par with a lot of them.**

**And like always, favorite, follow, and review please! :-D**

**~ Peace!**


	5. Help Wanted

**As I'm working on the newest chapter, I wanna ask you guys if you'd be willing to create some OCs to add onto here as well. I've already got one given to me by Kurumi Lover 6451('Sup, bruh?) to be used later and I need MOAR!**

**If and when I add them, I'll both PM you and shout you out at the end.**

**Now, so that this can be as organized as it can be, I've come up with a list for you to follow when telling me about your OC. You can put as much or as little info as you want, but if it's not enough in my opinion, I'll PM you with questions.**

**Now without further ado, this is what I wanna see in your submissions (* means it's not mandatory):**

**• Name**

**• Age**

**• Gender**

**• Race**

**• Occupation**

**• Appearance**

**• Personality**

**• Aura/Semblance**

**• Skills/Abilities**

**• Weapon(s)/Fighting Style**

**• History**

**• * Quotes (What is something that only (s)he would say?)**

**• * Miscellaneous (Surprise me!)**

**I can't wait to see what you guys come up with and I'll see you later for the next real chapter.**

**~ Peace!**


	6. Introspection, Kiss, & Reminiscence

**Okay, I'm back with this story. I'm pretty sure it's gonna suck, though since I've had writer's block for I dunno how long. Also, fair warning: there's a little bit of OOCness in this chapter, but it's absolutely minor and brief and I was trying to make it fit the context of the situation.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. It belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

* * *

It was a calm Wednesday morning. The skies slowly coming out of their prison of darkness called night. The sun slowly drifting past the mountainous regions of Remnant, basking it in its warm, golden glow. Every student was still in their dorms fast asleep.

…that is unless you were Kuro Arc.

Kuro's childhood made his internal clock set sometime between five or six in the morning. And when he found himself with nothing to do while waiting for class time, which was half past seven, he often went outside through his window and sat on a tree branch to watch this sunrise. Now that he had a Scroll (and after Yang had gratuitously taught him how to use it), he could take photos of it.

The moment he left his thoughts, the awaited event had started. The sun began to show itself through the horizon and the blazing colors of twilight filled the area. Kuro snapped the photo. Then the twilight began to fade into the casual blue that everyone associates the sky with, signifying the start of a new day.

"Perfect…" he muttered inaudibly. He returned to his room to polish his bow.

* * *

**Interesting Trivia**

Kuro's bow, named Gaia's Embrace, doesn't actually use real arrows as Kuro doesn't carry a quiver. Instead, it feeds off his life energy so that it fires unlimited shots, not without some passive side effects during the first few uses

* * *

_Team RWBY Dorm_

Yang, generally, wasn't exactly a morning person. Far from it, like two hundred billion miles from it. But today was an odd occurrence. She lay on her back with her legs crossed and hands behind her head, clad in her unique sleepwear: orange tank top and black short-shorts.

Yang also wasn't the type to dwell on thoughts either. She was a more "moving forward fearlessly" type of girl. However, she was rudely awakened by a recurring thought that interrupted her dreams. Her mind went straight towards a certain guy in a room right around corner of the dormitory hallways. Peering over to her right towards her scroll, she thought back to how clueless Kuro was about the device and she was tasked with teaching him about how to use it. She also remembers always sending him random messages during Port's self indulgence speeches.

Yang shuffled in her bed in an attempt to get more comfortable, her blanket splayed over her feet. She then attempted to organize her remaining thoughts about the spiky haired teddy bear, as she once described him.

Number one: Their first encounter.

It was by no means a normal one, seeing as how it was in the freezing cold while inside an abandoned cabin as she was being ambushed by a clan of Beowolves. To this day, she still regrets doing what she did as it nearly cost both hers and Ruby's lives. It was only by Monty Oum's divine intervention in the form of a little boy that they made it out okay.

Number two: How she felt about him.

This brought a bit of coloring to her face. Picturing his sweet smile as he offered his hand of salvation to her; the way he carried her back to her uncle (who was actually ready to kill him); and his adorable obliviousness towards pretty much anything industrial which carried onwards to today brought a tiny smile to her face. She noticed her heart rate was quickening and the heat in her face growing.

At first, she assumed that she was confusing her gratitude for him saving her and Ruby for love. But over time, she started to realize that she was actually starting to feel genuine romantic feelings towards Kuro. Of course, Yang had come to terms with this a long time ago, but that didn't mean that she tried to think of Kuro as little as possible.

She hated this so much. What thinking about him did to her.

Yang Xiao Long had fallen…

…fallen in love with the scarf-wearing, adorkable boy. The fact that she was a demisexual just further cemented that.

Oh, sweet Monty please help her. Yang decided to stop that thought train finally by going back to sleep.

…Until her Scroll's alarm rang…

_'Fuck…'_ she cursed mentally. And, as always, Weiss was the first one awake and stretched her stiffened muscles, hearing a few satisfying pops.

"Get up. All of you." she ordered. It's times like these that she wasn't sure who was this team's leader, and thank Dust that it wasn't her because of her dictator-like policies… like waking up at an ungodly hour, but Yang digresses.

"…Five more minutes…" Ruby mumbled and turned over, unaware of an agitated heiress's approach. She yanked the blankets off of her, causing Ruby to shiver and curl up in a ball to preserve her warmth. The blonde laughed at the cute display of defiance and hopped off her bunk just as Blake was getting up herself. Weiss noticed this with surprise as Yang was usually the last one to get up. She also took note of that her face was still a little red.

"Are you alright?"

"What do you mean?" Yang asked while stretching.

"Your face is red. You're not getting sick now, are you?" Blake pointed out once she registered the entire world once again. Yang froze and felt her face and, of course, it was still a little warm from her introspection. Deciding to get going before further interrogation could be made, she darted towards the bathroom to take her shower.

After their traditional morning routine (i.e.: waiting for Yang to finish with the vibrant gold clusterf*** on her head), the girls of red, white, black, and yellow donned their school uniforms and went to soothe their screaming stomachs with the awesomeness that is food. Although, when they exited the room, their leader took the completely opposite direction.

"Where exactly are you going?" Weiss questioned.

"Going to get Hedgehog." Ruby answers without turning around.

"Why?"

"Duh. So he can eat with us." Over the two months that they've been at Beacon, Ruby has noticed Kuro has been a bit… reclusive as of late. As per the context of their breaks, the young man would often either sit at very end of the cafeteria or just eat outside away from everyone. On the many occasions where she drags him to one of their misadventures, he stayed separate from the group even more so than Blake and that was saying something.

"Hey…" Oh, shit!

"Of what importance is that to you? So, he likes to eat by himself. That's what I would like, but considering the people I have to deal with on a daily basis…" Weiss trailed off bitterly.

"Nope! We're bringing the Hedgehog whether he wants to or not!" Ruby left no room for further conversation and sped towards Kuro's dorm, which was directly around the corner of the halls.

"Ah, it's just Rubes being herself. Don't get your panties in a bunch, Ice Princess." Yang waved her hand dismissively, ignoring Weiss's satanic glare.

'She could be the spawn of Grimm with that glare… I wonder… Weiss as a Grimm? Greiss? Nah…' she then noticed Blake had gained a distance away from the two.

"Hey, Blake! Wait up!" the brawler yelled and ran after her.

* * *

_Back to Kuro_

Opening the room to his dorm, Kuro was face to face with the young scythe wielder herself.

"Rosebud. What's up?"

"The ceiling, now, let's go!" she dragged him, yet again, to the cafeteria by his scarf.

"Why are you dragging me?"

"Because you are spending too much time alone! You need to socialize!"

"This coming from the socially awkward girl?" he asked rhetorically right as the two made it outside the doors.

"Hey, I'm not that bad! …Sometimes… Anyways, you're not eating outside again either!"

"I do not eat outside!" Ruby stopped and sent him a deadpanned stare.

"Not much?" Silence…

"…Shut up…" he flushed embarrassingly. He followed the girl the rest of the way in and out of line. Kuro adjusted his scarf as he made his way to sit with both teams until he noticed a head of brown hair and cute bunny ears.

"Hey, is that Velvet? That's Velvet! Keep my food away from Queenie, Ribbons." Blake subconsciously nodded as she turned a page in her book, but then finally registered his last words.

'Did he just call me "Ribbons?"'

Kuro approached the unsuspecting bunny Faunas and gave her a gentle tap on the shoulder, eliciting a cute "eep!" from her.

"Hey, Vel!" Kuro greeted. Velvet smiled.

"O-oh! H-Hi, Kuro. You scared me…"

"Yeah, I could tell. Sorry 'bout that." he chuckled sheepishly. "Anyways, where's your team?"

"They don't eat in the cafeteria, so I just come by myself." she explained, her ears twitched at every few words. He chuckled quietly, but Velvet's Faunas hearing made it loud and clear.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Your ears…" he got in one more abrupt chuckle. "…they were twitching. It's adorable." Velvet's face started to heat up at the compliment. No one outside of her team had ever complimented her ears before and to hear him say it with such honesty left the poor girl tongue tied.

"To be honest, I wanted to just eat outside, but I was sorta dragged here by a girl with a big ass scythe-rifle. And I say this because…" he grabbed her arm and pulled her to join the rest of the group. "You shall join me in my plight!"

"What?! Why?!" Velvet questioned with a squeak.

"Because according to said big-ass-scythe-rifle-wielder-girl, I need to 'socialize' and so shall you, Bun-Bun!" Kuro replied with flair and Velvet managed to grab her tray before being pulled towards Teams RWBY and JNPR. Ruby smiled with closed eyes, crossed her arms, and nodded approvingly.

"Did you just call me 'Bun-Bun?'"

"Well, you're a bunny Faunas and, to be honest, I thought you deserved a cute nickname. There you go." he explained as he took a seat next to Blake.

"How do you keep coming up with these nicknames?" Jaune asked and Kuro shrugged.

"Try spending a year with Little Miss Sunshine over there and tell me that you wouldn't pick up a few traits from her, man."

"You know you love me, Hedgehog." Yang joked, making Kuro roll his eyes albeit with a tiny pink blush.

"You two have known each other before coming to Beacon?" Pyrrha asked in genuine curiosity.

"Yeah. We were… eight?" Kuro nodded when Yang tried to confirm. "Yeah, eight when we met each other."

"How did you two meet?" Jaune asked this time.

"Well, I was running through a snow-covered forest in Patch when—" Yang covered Kuro's mouth before he could say any more.

"We'll save it for later…" she quipped, ignoring Kuro's muffled protests and indignant glare.

* * *

After breakfast came History class with Profess—ahem, I'm sorry—Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck, or as Kuro calls him, the god of ADHD. Oobleck appears to be a rather young looking man, with messy green hair and brown eyes. His attire is disheveled: his white shirt partially tucked into his dark green pants and its collar raised, showing a slack yellow tie, along with mismatched brown and black shoes. He also has round glasses that appear to be opaque.

Kuro took a seat next to Velvet and before he did anything else, he took out a sheet of paper and scribbled "Follow the Oobleck Score." Next, he drew a little chart with two columns, one labelled "Kuro" and he gave Velvet a glance and a smirk.

"Wanna play?" he proposed. Velvet looked reluctant for a minute before she sighed and nodded. She had to admit, she could use a little amusement. Kuro scribbled her name in and explained the rules.

"Okay, so the deal is: every time Doctor Oobleck moves, the first one to spot him earns one point. The one with the most points at the end of class wins." Velvet absorbed the information and nodded in understanding.

Just as he said that, the doctor started speaking. And every once in a while (every five minutes), Oobleck would mysteriously teleport to another location. As per the rules of the game, Kuro and Velvet would quietly point out where his new location would be. When the bell rang, the final count was Kuro with 10 points and Velvet with 12 points.

"Yes~! I win." the brunette giggled. When she looked back at him, she saw him smiling widely. "What's wrong?"

"I really think you should smile more, Vel. It makes you a lot cuter than normal." he replied. That comment made her face turn redder than either Pyrrha's hair or Ruby's cloak and she started stammering. Soon she couldn't take it and fled the scene, leaving Kuro shocked.

"Did I… Did I take it too far?" he asked no one in particular. Jaune, who was next to him, shrugged and pat his back in assurance.

"Nice one, Lady Killer." Yang quipped. It seemed normal, but our resident crimsonette could detect a note of jealousy which no one else did. She opted to not mention anything about it for the sake of both her and Kuro.

"I thought that title was for JaaaaAAAAUUU—WAIT! WHY WOULD I KILL LADIES?! I'M NOT A MURDERER!" the latter of whom looked absolutely horrified. Yang face palmed silently. She knew she should be used to Kuro's literal mindedness, but he should've at least known that was a joke.

"…She's kidding, Kuro…" Ruby revealed with a deadpanned expression. The boy gave an "Ohhh…" as a sign of understanding.

"If this is how you handle 'Lady Killer,' I shudder to think of your reaction to… I dunno… me or Ren getting a girlfriend." Jaune says, not noticing a hopeful gleam in Pyrrha's emerald orbs.

"Please leave me out of this, Jaune…" Ren offered an aside as he carried Nora by piggyback.

"But I already have some."

("What?") everyone says in one tone or another.

"Well, Rosebud, Ribbons, Sunshine, Red, Queenie, and Snowflake. They're my friends. And they're obviously female." he elaborated and the looks he got lessened. And he even heard two audible sighs of relief.

"Wait—am I 'Red?'" Pyrrha wondered out loud.

"And do not call me 'Snowflake.' Ever…"

"Gotta call you something, don't I? I thought Snowflake would fit you because you're unique and you know what they say about snowflakes, right? So, until I meet another Weiss Schnee, I'm gonna call you Snowflake so…" Kuro fished out a pair of sunglasses from in his scarf and crossed his arms. "DEAL WITH IT."

"…Idiot." a red faced Weiss mumbled.

"Classic tsundere line, Weiss." Ruby teased. Hey, she's not sisters with Yang for nothing.

"Huh? What the heck is that?"

"A person who is initially cold and even hostile towards another person before gradually showing their warm side over time."

"Never pegged you as an anime buzz, Blake."

"I don't watch anime…" Yang let out a silent 'oh.'

"I read manga." Yang sweat dropped with a twitchy smile.

"Rosebud… stop watching anime. That and this are two different things."

"I dunno. Did you see what section this series is under on the site?" Nora piped in.

"And I do NOT watch anime…! Not that often, maybe." Ruby weakly defended and Kuro laughed.

**…KiLl…yOU…**

He lightly gasped and turned his head towards the hallway window. An unknown voice hissed in his head.

**…wE…WiLL…**

"What're you looking at? What's over there?" Jaune's voice snapped him out of it.

"Ah… It's nothing. Just kinda zoned out there." Kuro dismissed with a wave of his hand. With that, the group of nine made their way towards their next class like normal.

* * *

Kuro decided to walk towards the cafeteria by his lonesome. He couldn't get that sudden "communication" from before out of his mind. As hard as he tried, he couldn't piece together who or what that was. He was so deep into his thoughts that he barely noticed a burly boy with burnt orange hair combed back walking in his direction. The guy caught up to him and threw a punch at him. While his fist never connects as he stopped it when it was mere millimeters from Kuro's face, it was enough to knock Kuro off balance and fall on to his backside.

"Whoops. My bad, Porcupine." he said, his voice oozing of sarcasm as he walked away smugly.

'What'd I ever do to piss him off?' he thought while dusting his uniform off. He went right back to walking.

His body was on autopilot at that point until he reached the actual cafeteria, where he would more likely than not sit with teams RWBY and JNPR, listening to another one of Nora's stories. He did the unusual and actually came, surprising both Jaune and Ruby.

"So, what? Is this a sign of the apocalypse that you show up on your own, Kuro?" the knight asked with a small smile, causing the raven haired boy to punch him in the arm. He then noticed Ruby looking contemplative about something.

"What's going on in the ol' chrome dome, Rosebud?"

"Kuro. Am I 'cute?'"

"Yep." Kuro answered without hesitation. Ruby was taken aback by his swift response. She knew he was honest, but she didn't think he was this honest. "Why do you ask?"

"It's just that I wanna be an 'adult' like all the others. They keep calling me stuff like 'kid' and 'short stuff.'"

"What's wrong with that? It just means that they think that you're cute, too."

"But I don't like that! I wanna be a brave hero, not a 'cute kid!' You know, like the 'strike fear into the hearts of my enemies' type of deal!"

"You know, cuteness can be used as a weapon. It throws your enemy off guard and leaves them vulnerable for a little bit." Kuro tried explaining to her, but the young redhead just pouted cutely and crossed her arms.

"Mou~! That's playing dirty, though. If I'm fighting, I want my win to be fair and square! It's awesome-r that way!" she denied his explanation and looked at Kuro's expression. He was trying desperately to hold in his laughter. It was only by Blake elbowing his side that he finally regained composure.

"I'm sorry, Rosebud. Tell ya what, someday—definitely not today—you and me are gonna solve your little problem… Maybe…"

"Aw… why not now?" Ruby started pouring. Not just any pout: the Ruby Rose Specialty Pout.

"Uh… ah… w-well… ya see…" As if the Great Monty Oum had heard his prayer, a voice came on the intercom.

Would Team RWBY and Kuro Arc please report to the Headmaster's office?

The five in question shared inquisitive looks before throwing away their trays and heading to Ozpin's office. Kuro knocked on the door and after hearing the affirmation to come in, he let the girls in first.

"Hello Team RWBY, Mr. Arc." The hunters in training each greeted the silver haired man back and took a seat.

"So, what did you call us for, Headmaster?" the crimsonette of the group made the initiative.

"We have an assignment for the five of you. We have recently gotten word of Grimm attacks in the village of Menagerie. Their defenses have been effective initially, but as of late Grimm activity had become so rampant that they have begun to thin out." Ozpin briefed them.

'Menagerie? Why do I feel like I've been there before?' Kuro's features looked contemplative for a second.

"And they need a couple of brave, young, and adventurous hunters—" Yang started.

"In training…" Blake interrupted and Yang sucked her teeth.

"—in training… To fight 'em off?"

"Hasn't that been done to death already?" Kuro whispered to Weiss, who shrugged without looking at him. Ozpin let an amused smirk grace his features as he took a quick sip of his coffee.

"That would be the long and short of it. You all shall depart in 24 hours. You have the rest of the day off to make the proper preparations. All of you are dismissed." At his word, four of the five had made it out of the door. Kuro was held back for a second. Glynda placed something into his hand and he inspected it. It was an ore shard. What was unique about it was that it pulsated with various colors.

"This is definitely seizure-ific. What is it?"

"Mr. Arc, you are aware of Dust being crystallized, correct?" Glynda asked.

"Old Man Joseph did say something about that." Kuro recalled.

"We had received this from the Menagerie mines before someone destroyed them. We attempted research on it, but results became inconclusive. That is why we task you to bring this with you on your assignment to see if you may ask further questions on our behalf."

_'So, I'm your bitch boy, basically…?'_

"Yes, ma'am." the dark haired boy pocketed the crystallized Dust and left the office, where Blake stood there waiting for him. She snaked her arm around his, something she usually does when no one is present as most people were still in class.

"What did Headmaster Ozpin hold you up for?" she asked. Kuro fished out the crystal and held it out in front of her.

"It's just this ultra-rare Dust crystal that was made in Menagerie and they—" Kuro paused as something snapped within his head.

"**OHHHHHHH!** I REMEMBER NOW!" Blake's amber eyes widened in mild shock over his sudden outburst.

"I've been to Menagerie before when I was a kid! It was a Faunas slave mine where I stayed a few days. I even met this one kid. He was a monkey Faunas. Then he asked me to do something about the mine, so I blew it up! The Faunas there then said something about a 'hero' or whatever…" Kuro divulged the tale right as they arrived at Team RWBY's dorm. Blake's lips curved upwards into a smile. In her eyes, his acts of helping out anyone—human or Faunas—made him her hero.

…and it made her love him more and more.

"You just keep getting more and more amazing each day." she said, catching his attention. "You're always helping people regardless of who or what they are and still manage to keep that friendly smile of yours."

"Of course! Remember what I said to you when we first met? 'Is it a crime to be different from others?'" he poked her bow for emphasis, making her ears twitch and her face flush.

"No, I suppose not…" Blake replied. "I should start packing now. I'll see you later, Kuro."

"Yeah, catch ya later, Ribbons~" Kuro gave a two-fingered salute. Just as Blake reached for the doorknob, she stopped and turned towards him as he made it to the end of the hall. She sped towards him, grabbed his hand, spun him around, and—

Kissed him dead on the lips. Kuro froze in his spot, too shocked to give a proper response. Blake's lips were so soft and warm. The kiss was so delicate and chaste, so he couldn't exactly complain, but it was so sudden. The Faunas-in-disguise separated from him with a pretty pink blush, her mind going in many directions as she left him and ran inside her dorm. Kuro reached out to her to say something, but no words came out and he stood there in silence.

"Wh-why did she…?" Kuro asked nobody and touched his still warn lips.

* * *

_Team RWBY Dorm (OOC Warning!)_

Blake's heart ran rampant in her chest as she entered her room and plopped down on her bed. No one else was around, but she did hear the shower running so that clued her in on someone being there. Blake also knew that she should start packing, but her sudden action of kissing Kuro was still at the forefront of her mind. Why she had done that, she did not know. But she would be lying to herself if she said that it did not excite her a little bit. His confused, blushing face was just too adorable and she made a mental note of trying to get him to do that more often.

She then did the one thing that even Blake Belladonna herself did not expect her to do—

—and "squee'd" into her pillow, her ears twitching wildly. She had learned from Kuro that sometimes she should just let out her feelings and she did so twice: her love for Kuro and the excitement she feels from it. Although, she had found out that Kuro was an orphan and with the power of deductive reasoning, she figured that he didn't have the faintest idea of what non-familial love is like.

Her deepening love ranged from seeing his smiling face and quirky mannerisms or his brutal honesty and dedication to being the best that he can be. His various actions of assisting the Faunas just added to the list of reasons as well. But she also saw his loneliness and made it her mission—no, her responsibility—to relieve him of that loneliness and not just her, but all of Team RWBY should be involved. But she kept it on the down low until she knew he was ready to depend on her.

Blake managed to cool down her emotions before she lifted herself off of the bed and began gathering her stuff, face still colored red despite her stoic expression.

* * *

_The Next Morning…_

Team RWBY stood out in the docks, awaiting their airship ride to Menagerie. From Beacon to there, it would most likely be a three hour flight.

"Yaaaawwwn…" came a masculine voice. Kuro was slowly approaching while stretching his arms with a satisfying crack of his muscles and neck.

"Mornin', girls…" the four groggily greeted in their own way. Yet, Kuro couldn't even look at Blake without blushing. "Our ride's not here, yet?"

"Five, four, three, two…" Blake counted down and as if on cue, an airship touched down.

"You kids heading for Menagerie?" the driver asked. The five nodded and got on board towards their destination, thus marking the beginning of their mission.

* * *

**So… how'd I do? Not gonna lie, I'm not very confident in this one. Plot beginnings aren't my forte. I dipped a little bit more on the romance and I'm afraid that I rushed it a little bit.**

**Other than that, please do me a favor and follow, favorite and review! And I'll see you beautiful sons of guns next time! Don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile!**

**~ Peace!**


	7. The Do's and Don'ts of Menagerie

**So, for the poll on my profile, I've gotten about five votes so far for the pairings and the results are:**

**Harem: 4**

**Blake: 1**

**Weiss: 1**

**Yang: 1**

**Although, rereading the entire story so far, I realized that II was unconsciously going the harem route, so uh… help me out guys.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY. It belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum.**

* * *

The airship ride to Menagerie was a long and boring one…

…so says one Kuro Arc. In terms of technicalities, it's only been twenty minutes, but to him it was four years! All he was really doing was sitting around twiddling his thumbs.

He had eventually devolved to the point where he was playing "Go Fish" with Ruby. The crimsonette had just added a card to her deck and was now awaiting Kuro's call.

"Do you…" Kuro trailed off, sending his gaze towards Yang. The two shared a silent conversation before raising her left hand and lifting one finger.

"…have…" Two fingers.

"…any…" Three fingers.

"…threes?" Ruby looked astonished for a second, then looked up with her silver eyes to meet his ultramarine.

"Yes! Yes, I do! Argh! How are you doing this?! You're the luckiest guy I know!" she threw her deck down in bewilderment and gripped her hair. Kuro smiled smugly and placed his hands behind his head.

"Luck ain't got nothin' to do with it, Rosebud~" Yang tried to reign her laughter while Blake and Weiss kept to themselves, though with the occasional glances towards the game with miniscule interest.

"…Aaaaaand, I'm bored again…" Kuro's smug look morphed into one of excruciating boredom until he shrugged and took a seat in the far most seat to the Bullhead's interior. "I'm taking a nap."

"…Lame…" Yang muttered with a thumbs down.

"You got an idea then, Miss Smarty-Booty?" the dark haired boy turned towards her.

"Truth or Dare?" Ruby suggested.

"At 7:43 in the morning?" Kuro held out his scroll for emphasis, inadvertently giving everyone a look at his cat wallpaper.

"Nice home screen." Weiss commented sarcastically before returning to her high maintenance fingernails.

"Shut up. I love cats!" Kuro admitted indignantly, putting his scroll into the empty void that was his scarf.

After the first hour had passed, not much else had happened. Ruby and Yang had fallen asleep, the former resting on the latter's lap. Kuro took a snapshot of the rather adorable display (while making sure that the flash and shutter sounds were off) and sent it to Blake and Weiss's scrolls. They both checked theirs and Blake sent him a look and a short, barely audible chuckle while Weiss rolled her eyes, but kept the photo before continuing to wait patiently. The dark haired boy sent one more glance towards the sleeping sisters, more specifically the blonde, and noticed a content smile on her face.

'Wonder what she's dreaming about… Probably something action-y… or about her hair…' he thought before returning to his scroll. However, he did notice the stray strand of hair on the very top of her head formed a "heart" shape, but chalked it up as "anime physics."

"Hey, kids. We're nearing Menagerie."

"YES! FINALLY!" Kuro screamed to the heavens, effectively rousing Ruby and Yang from their sleep with Ember Celica pointed to his skull. "…Sorry…"

* * *

The Bullhead deposited the group of five about thirty feet from Menagerie's entrance. The trek there was just as boring as the air ride. But then, Ruby brought up an… unusual topic.

"Hey, Kuro. I think you should start wearing a bow."

"Why?" he sent her a look.

"Because I think you'd look really cute with one."

"Ruby… Rosebud. Uh, lemme share with you a little something about us guys: We don't do cute. We don't like to be called cute." Kuro broke it down.

"Really? What's wrong with guys being cute?" Ruby tilted her head with a raised eyebrow.

"It's both embarrassing and degrading."

"That's weird. You guys are weird." Kuro chuckled as they had entered Menagerie. It was a relatively small village, containing just enough buildings and houses to fit a good amount of inhabitants. The team ran into one of the law enforcement officials in Menagerie. He was a dog Faunas as evident by the fluffy tail on his behind. Blake narrowed her eyes at the man slightly before schooling her features, not wanting to come off as rude.

"You kids are who Ozpin sent?" he was only met with a nod from each teen before inwardly sighing at ushering them to follow. Kuro, of course, was hit by a massive nostalgia attack as he looked from building to building. A smile adorned his features all the while.

'Things have certainly gotten better over the years. It almost makes it unbelievable that this used to be a slave mine…' he thought gingerly to himself before someone tugged him out of his thoughts. It was Yang.

"You're smiling like you know this place. Spill it. All of it." she smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Later…" was his only reply, which left the blonde dissatisfied. However, the girls did notice a few of the Faunas inhabitants sending looks towards their male companion, mainly of admiration. They could clearly see that Kuro had been here before, but never told them which left them curious. Yang, of course being Yang, was the only one to act upon it and ask.

"You freakin' better…" she grumbled to herself as they entered a tower like structure, most likely where they would find the village head. After passing through a few more guards, the dog Faunas had opened the door for them, earning thanks from all of them. As he turned to leave, Blake sent one final glare towards him, her bow twitching ever so slightly. Apparently, the eternal rivalry of cats and dogs even applies to Faunas. The RWY of team RWBY were curious as to what the man had done to make Blake glare at him like that while Kuro knew exactly why and let out a snort. He glanced at Blake, who noticed his scrutinizing look and mouthed "shut up" with a twinge of color staining her face.

"Would you all care to have a seat so that we may get started?" came a voice from behind the boy. It was the village head. He was a burly man. A ram Faunas. The horns on his head were a dead giveaway. Silver, frizzy hair neatly coiffured to reveal a fresh, wild face. Smart blue eyes, set appealingly within their sockets, raw evidence of his years of watching over Menagerie as a whole. A scar stretching from just under the right eye , running towards his left nostril and ending under his left eye leaves an aching burden of wartime experience. His age was made evident by the facial hair and the barely visible wrinkles that began to form on him.

His fairly short sleeved, velvety jacket covers him to well above his groin and is bound at the right side. The sleeves of his jacket are a comfortable fit and reach down to well below his hands, they're decorated with several thread linings at the sleeve ends. The jacket has a rectangular neckline which reveals part of the ornate shirt worn below it and is worn with a wide cloth belt, which is held together by a big belt buckle. The cloth belt is purely decorative and a sign of wealth. His pants are simple and quite narrow and reach down to his leather boots. The boots are made from a fairly rare leather, but are otherwise an ordinary design. To the five sitting before him, he looked like a medieval hero.

The first thing the man did was introduce himself as Aedus and then peer over team RWBY and Kuro, which made them all a little bit uneasy. Ruby raised her hand to say something, but a look and a shake of the head from Weiss told her to do the exact opposite. His hard gaze went towards the spiky haired teen before a flash of realization hit him and his hands, which were originally clasped in front of his mouth with his elbows on his mahogany desk, lowered slightly.

"Forgive me for the sudden question…" his deep baritone voice began. "…but your name would not happen to be 'Kuro,' correct?"

"Y-Yeah… I mean, yes! Yes, sir!" Kuro fumbled. The Faunas elder's facial features turned from hardened to humbled, as if he was looking at an important figure. He rose from his seat and offered his hand for a formal handshake, which Kuro hesitantly reciprocated.

"Well, it does me great honor to meet the young man whom my village refers to as 'hero'." Aedus chuckled at the "hero" part. "Even more so in that we shall be fighting alongside one another. It is an honor, Kuro."

Kuro became flustered at both his words and everyone in the room, the guards standing by Aedus included, looking directly at him and scratched his head laughing sheepishly. Ruby perked up significantly and the word "hero," Weiss was disbelieving, Yang was intrigued. Blake, the only person amongst the four girls who knows why this is, let out a proud and satisfied smile. And the always excitable Rose raised her hand up vigorously.

"Oh, oh, oh! Whatdidhedowhatdidhedowhatdidhedo?!" she asked in rapid succession. Aedus was taken aback by her energy and glanced questioningly at Kuro.

"She wants to know what happened. In fact, I think they all do… Her name is Ruby Rose. And these are her teammates Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and her sister, Yang Xiao Long."

"I see… As much as I would love to tell the story, we must get to the main reason why you five are here."

"That would be ideal, yes." Weiss concurred, ignoring Ruby and Yang's simultaneous "aw."

"As I am sure Ozpin briefed you, our village has recently become a target for those Grimm beasts. The first few days have been relatively minor: the low rank Beowolves and I have only needed to send no more than two to three of our defenders. However, as of late we have seen an influx of higher breed such as the Ursa and the occasional Nevermore, where we sent an entire squadron, but even with that our numbers have been slowly, but surely decreasing with each attack." Aedus explained while walking towards the large window overlooking the village with his arms crossed.

"How often have these attacks been happening?" Blake pondered.

"At the very most, six times every 36 hours; at the very least, twice in every 24."

"How many guys have kicked the bucket?" Yang spoke up this time.

"Counting our recent reports, 139 of our 300 soldiers have been killed in one way or another."

"And that leaves you with just 161. 166 including us?" Weiss asked.

"Yes, if you are willing to cooperate. What we need in addition of added firepower is a method of security for the innocents. We have not lost any civilians yet and we plan to keep it that way. We currently are working on a project to ensure it."

"And that would be?"

"We are to be constructing a barrier around Menagerie. The walls would me made of hardened steel, which we have just received a shipment of yesterday."

"Is there any way of support or reinforcement for the wall?" Kuro asked as he scrutinized the plans laid out on Aedus's desk.

"Do you have any suggestions?"

"Perhaps, we may apply beams at each critical area that the wall would be protecting." Weiss suggested.

"Someone had recommended that and I have kept it into consideration…" Aedus scratched his goatee. "But there was also another rather… intriguing method." Something in Kuro clicked and the gears in his head turned more rapidly than they were already.

"…Is it… Dust?" Aedus nodded.

"As we are all aware, Dust maybe applied to nearly everything. So, we have been testing different types of Dust that may have a desirable effect on the material we would use for constructing the barrier."

"Have you found anything?" Ruby asked, somewhat grasping the concept.

"As of recently, no. All reports have come inconclusive."

"In-con-what?"

"It won't work…" Blake translated for her.

"We have tried the samples of Dust available in our village, but none have provided satisfactory protection. We have started out small like applying it to our soldiers' weaponry and, while somewhat effective, after a while the material corrodes. There was once a very rare kind of Dust that could be absorbed into anything, including other life forms such as humans and Faunas. But now it is nearly impossible to find some."

"It wouldn't happen to be kind of rainbow-y colored, right?" Kuro asked, reaching for his pants pocket.

"Yes, why?"

"So, maybe something like this?" Kuro held out the multicolored Dust crystal that Glynda had given him. Aedus's eyes widened as he sped walked towards the boy.

"Y-Yes! Once again you have amazed me, Kuro. Do you mind if I take it?"

"Go ahead."

"Wait a moment…" Weiss interjected.

"What's wrong?"

"May I see that crystal?" Kuro silently handed the Dust over and Weiss scrutinized it. "I can't believe you've managed to find such a rare brand. Where did you find this, Arc?"

"I got it from Headmaster Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch. Why? What's so special about it? Other than what Aedus told us?"

"What's so special about this is that this is easily one of, if not the, rarest brand of Dust known to Remnant. I have read in one book that says it has all the properties of every other kind of Dust, even the lesser known ones. A jack of all trades in which its effects are selected at random, so there is no guarantee that you will get the desired effect."

"So, in Rosebud's terms, it chooses what it does to people and things at random?" Weiss nodded before handing it to Aedus. "Wow, impressive. Both the Dust and Weiss for being so smart." the heiress huffed and smirked as per her haughty nature, but Yang noticed a small amount of redness on her features and made a note to tease her about it later.

"So, what do now?" Kuro asked.

"I will need you to stand guard for the next few hours. Any Grimm activity should either be reported immediately and dealt with which I am sure should not be any trouble for you five. Also, while you are on duty, I will have a house for you to settle in when you are on downtime."

"Understood." Kuro, Ruby, and Yang saluted while Blake and Weiss just nodded in affirmation.

"Again, thank you for your services. And it was a pleasure to finally meet you, Kuro."

"The pleasure was all mine." the boy replied and left with the girls.

* * *

"So… How are we gonna do this?" Yang broke the silence amongst the five.

"Hmm… how about pairs?" Ruby suggested.

"There are five of us. In order for that to work, one of us will have to take a double shift and I am fairly certain none of us will want to do that." Weiss debunked the crimsonette's suggestion.

"I say we draw straws." Blake offered.

"Draw straws?" Kuro echoed. Blake somehow had a handful of straws of different sizes.

"We each take a straw. Shortest straw goes first, longest straw goes last. Take your pick." Everyone drew a straw and the results were: first was Weiss; second was Yang; third was Blake; fourth, Ruby; and fifth, Kuro.

As per the order, the five teens each took one hour shifts, with the next person arriving to take their place. Their lookout location was atop the highest point in Menagerie. A large house made of wooden was given to them for lodging.

Nightfall came around when it was Kuro's turn. He shared a quick tag out high-five with Ruby before sitting on the branch of a nearby tree. Team RWBY's turns were relatively peaceful with a few Ursa and maybe two or three Majors.

Now, there are three things that Kuro wished that he had right now. The first was that he just wished that he had a Faunas's natural ability of night vision right about now. Instead, he went with the alternative: his own Semblance, creating a makeshift candle light to aid his peripheral vision by a marginal amount.

The second thing he wished for was for the ability to fly, so that he can perform aerial search instead of sitting on this Dust damned tree branch. The only way he could achieve flight was, again, his Semblance, but that burns through his Aura at an alarming rate.

The third thing he wished for was that he had remembered to eat dinner before coming here…

**Grrruuumble…**

_'Dude, shut up! I'll feed you in a minute… well, more like—'_ Kuro checked his scroll for the time. _'fifty-five…'_

**Grrrrrruuumble…**

_'I'm gonna die before the hour's up, aren't I?'_ his lamenting was paused when he heard the sound of falling trees. A small grunt escaped him as he dropped from his position on the tree to investigate.

Hopping from tree branch to tree branch, Kuro took note of the state of the forestry around him. The ground littered with different sized depressions. Half of the trees in the area were either snapped in two or had deep gashes in the tree bark. What caught the boy's utmost attention was the trail of footprint that he had been following for a while. They looked to be Grimm footprints, but something was off about them.

Number one: was their size. They obviously were a Beowolf's footprints. However, all of the Beowolves that Kuro had seen have never had this big of a footprint before. Of course, Kuro took a photo of the footprint to show to both Team RWBY and Aedus. He had also made a mental note to send a copy of the photo to Ozpin.

Continuing onwards, Kuro could see a clearing coming fast. As he progressed further ahead, the collateral damage made to the forest became worse and worse. Looking around once there, at first, nothing was there. He was greatly confused and walked to the dead center of the clearing. That was until he was assaulted by the sound of breathing on the back of his head. He cautiously turned around, but nearly froze when he was met with two pairs of piercing red eyes. It was a Beowolf, but different. Mainly because it had two heads and it was MASSIVE.

Its body is a blackish-red, similar to Ruby's hair, with much of its fur looking like it isn't fur at all. It looked more like a pitch black substance. It is shown that the beast was formerly chained down since it has a large, metal brace with a broken chain attached to its left paw. Both of its heads also wear similar-looking spiked collars with chains dangling down from them. In addition, it wears the trademark Grimm bone armor along its back, with funnel-like spouts running along its spine.

Both heads of the Omega(Ω) Beowulf let out an ear-splitting roar that shook the very earth that Kuro stood on. The boy didn't waste time covering his ears as he retreated into the thick woods.

(~ Boss Fight 2 ~ Kid Icarus: Uprising plays)

_'Why. Does. This shit. Happen to ME?!'_ he thought morbidly before he heard the huge Grimm charge at him. Kuro managed to dodge the charge, but the Omega thought quick and slammed him down using its bony tail. His body roughly skidded across the ground, little chunks of rubble grazing and cutting his back. Kuro ignored the pain for the most part, his Aura doing its best to numb it down.

Kuro shakily stood up to retreat once again into the woods. The Omega, already annoyed by his apparent cowardice opened one of its great maws and breathed out and dark red substance. Kuro jumped to another branch and his eyes widened. The area he once stood was completely disintegrated.

"That… whatever it was that he's breathing is acidic. Good to know!" he drew his bow and readied an aura-made arrow. With careful aim and timing, he released it and shot it in one of its head. The ΩBeowulf recoiled slightly and growled threateningly.

"Way to go, Kuro. You just pissed him off even more." he muttered in slight fear. At this point, he realizes that attacking it head-on was not an apt strategy. Unfortunately, he didn't even have time to formulate a proper one as the ΩBeowolf leapt into the air, which was surprising considering its size, spun around vertically and seemingly pushed its weight onto the ground, trying to crush the dark haired youth.

Said youth tried to move, but suddenly the world started spinning as the Omega used its hind legs to kick him and send him flying, landing harshly on his back. Not willing to give him a chance to retaliate, the massive Grimm lunged and slammed its paw onto Kuro's legs.

A pain in which Kuro had never experienced before had coursed through him and he couldn't bite back the scream of agony that escaped him. Both of the ΩBeowolf's heads grinned, or at least their jaws curved into what resembled a grin, at his suffering and twisted its paw and applied more weight. Kuro's scream turned louder and rose an octave. He could feel his lungs burning in addition to the increased pain of his most likely broken legs. At that moment, his Aura was having trouble trying to reassemble the snaps to his bones.

Fighting through the pain with tears staining his face, he fired another arrow to the ΩBeowolf's eyes, effectively blinding it as it howled and flailed around. During its fit, its tail slammed into Kuro's gut repeatedly, making him cough up an alarming amount of blood. He took this time to both take a photo of the beast while sending a signal to one of the girls' scrolls, he didn't care which one, and tried to wait it out. His legs hurt so much that he couldn't even move them. He was as helpless as a newborn right now.

'Please, at least let this thing run away…' he craned his head upwards, but when he did, the ΩBeowolf's tail slammed into his neck, breaking it and rendering him unconscious.

In more technical terms, he just "got rekt!"

* * *

…with Team RWBY…

Inside the cabin which became their lodging, the four girls were about to prepare for dinner until they realized something…

…According to Ruby, Kuro was the only one out of them all with the ability to cook. Ruby wasn't allowed anywhere near a stove after she blew up the kitchen once, Yang tends to overcook her food, Weiss has had numerous chefs cook for her while Blake just straight up admitted to never stepping foot in a kitchen. They were going to get the guy until Weiss's scroll went off.

'What on Remnant?' the heiress unlocked the device and saw that someone had sent a message to her scroll. It was from the dark haired archer.

'I swear, if that fool sent me another—' her thoughts were halted went she saw the two attached files on the message.

Destroyed forestry all around an area with the caption "2 miles away from Menagerie" and another with a massive sized, canine Grimm(?) looking straight towards the camera. The next thing Weiss knew, her current screen was replaced by a map of Menagerie and an approximate 5 mile radius around it. A blinking red dot at the 2 mile mark appeared, which confused her at first, but she put two and two together:

The reckless idiot had the audacity to try and fight that beast and promptly, in the words of Xiao Long, "got rekt."

Weiss groaned outwardly, catching the others' attention, muttering "That reckless, little—" and turned her head in their general direction, sighing.

"Grab your weapons…"

"Why? We're just grabbing Hedgehog?" Yang shrugged from the doorway. Ruby and Blake shared her confusion as Weiss walked up to them to show them her most recent message.

"Because this" was her two-word answer. The RBY of the team nearly huddled together to look at the two photos. Expressions ranged from curiosity to amazement to confusion and finally horror.

'No… No, no… Do NOT let this mean what I think it means …' was the most common thought.

"W-Weiss. W-Where is Kuro now…?" the young leader asked shakily. Weiss switched her screen back to the map.

"This red dot right here is coming from Arc's scroll, which I'm assuming is his exact location right now." she sighed. "And if my intuition is correct he's over there with the giant Beowolf, called an ΩBeowolf, presumably, as Yang would say, 'getting wrecked.' Ugh… I canNOT believe that I just said that…"

Ruby darted out the door, grabbing Crescent Rose on her way out and calling out Kuro's name, using her Semblance to get to him in record time. Her sister's eyes turned red and she angrily shouted as she left the cabin and literally exploded in a column of fire. Weiss jumped as Blake sped past her, jumping from tree to tree with an mixture of concern and annoyance at Kuro's stupidity.

"What I can't believe is that Local Dumbass #1 decided it was okay to fight that damned Grimm BY HIMSELF! If he's uninjured when I get there, I'm gonna tear him a new one for this!" and with that, the equally as concerned and even more enraged brawler took off in a mad dash in the direction the others went in, leaving Weiss to shake her head at her teammates with a sigh and aptly follow them.

Although somewhere in her mind, she was a little bit worried about him, but there was no way she was going to say that aloud. She knew that if she had said that in front of Yang, if she wasn't as angry as she was right now, she would have a field day with her insufferable teasing habits.

* * *

_Kuro…_

_'What the hell…?'_

_Kuro._

_'If I stay asleep, will it go away…?'_

_KURO!_

_Kuro gasped as he "opened" his eyes and jolted upright. He found his legs weren't being crushed by a big ass dog monster, so that was a plus, he guessed. But there was the obvious question of WHERE THE HELL WAS HE?_

_The answer to that came in the form of a beautifully bright and sunny meadow littered with different types of flowers. The was a single cherry blossom tree it the center. Underneath it, he saw a single inhabitant sitting on a single small island of grass. Deciding that he's got nothing to lose, the boy sped walked towards the person. It was obviously female, given the shape of her figure. He stood behind her in silence before trying to speak to her._

_"Um… excuse me, miss? You wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you?" he asked, remembering to keep his tone respectful. The girl didn't respond, merely standing up and turning towards him. Kuro's eyes widened._

_"Rosebud?!"_

_In terms of face and stature, the girl in front of him looked identical to Ruby. Although, the differences were instead of the red and black color scheme Ruby wore, this one had green and brown. Her "cloak" looked withered at the end and was dark green, her hair wasn't two-toned like Ruby's but an earthly brown and her eyes were seafoam green._

_"Ehh! Wrong! I'm not 'Rosebud.' I simply took her appearance since she was the last person you spoke to."_

_"Geez, isn't that convenient? But seriously, who are you and why am I here?"_

_"One, my name is Gaia. I'm the spirit residing in your bow and two—"_

_'Please, no "ancient legacy" crap now…' Kuro thought and Gaia sighed._

_"No, there is not any ancient legacy involved with me. I'm only here to assist in repairing your damaged legs and neck. And also tell you how much of an idiot you are for trying to fight that ΩBeowolf in the first place."_

_"That's good—wait, you can read my mind?!"_

_"Yes." was Gaia's simple answer. "As I said before, I reside in your bow. Although, this is my first time actually transporting a live body to my domain. Interesting trivia: there are spirits residing in the weapons of people. An example of one would be the Arc family heirloom, Crocea Mors."_

_"Well, Jaune's gonna have a field day with that. Also, I haven't really touched up on my Brain Age skills, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little slow right now…" Gaia merely giggled._

_"Am I done here, now? My legs and neck feel fine."_

_"I was finished a long time ago."_

_"Why didn't you just send me back immediately?" Gaia poked her index fingers together shyly._

_"Well, when you're trapped inside a weapon for 10,000 years, you can get kind of… lonely. And I've kind of taken a shine to you, so I wanted to meet you face to face!"_

_"Wow… Okay, then. I'm… flattered."_

**_'Kuro!'_**

**_'Damn it! Where is he?'_**

_"Ruby? Yang?"_

_"Op. Looks like your friends have found you. Good luck!"_

_"Actually, I'd much rather stay here for a little bit longer." Gaia ignored him and sent him back to the real world._

_"Not an option. Go back and be a man, mister."_

* * *

Back in the real world, Kuro couldn't really concentrate on figuring out just what the hell just happened because he was being violently shaken by a certain big ass scythe wielder calling his name. He drowsily opened his eyes, still tasting the copper flavor of blood in his mouth, and did a once over on his surroundings. The good thing was that the ΩBeowolf was long gone… for now. The bad thing was four irate, badass girls ready to tear him a new asshole.

"Man, what a dream…" he mumbled before slumping again. It was then that Ruby knocked him on the head with the blunt side of Crescent Rose, making him roll along the ground while clutching his damaged cranium.

"Ow! Owowowowow! This is NOT a damn dream! What happened?!" Yang pulled him up by his scarf, her eyes red all the while. He stole glances to all of the girls, all of whom were glaring at him in one way or another.

"…I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

**("BIG. Trouble.")** they all said in unison. Kuro gulped as his blood ran cold and he muttered the only thing that he could be in this particular situation.

"…Mommy…"

…and suffice to say, it didn't save him.

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**Kuro really screwed the pooch on this one, didn't he? Also, I highly encourage your participation in the poll on my profile because I highly value you guys' opinions.**

**Also, don't forget to follow, favorite, and review this story.**

**~ Peace!**


	8. Chapter 8 (Preview)

**I'll let you guys read the first party of the newest chapter. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. It belongs to Rooster Teeth and the late and great Monty Oum.**

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Yang Xiao Long was in love with Kuro Arc. That's a 100% truth. And while she loves everything about him, there are times where she questions why she fell in love with him in the first place.

Tonight would be of those times…

Apparently, the spiky haired idiot thought it was a good idea to fight an A-class Grimm on his own and, sure enough, he got his ass handed to him on a silver platter. And when she found him unconscious with his outfit in shambles and blood practically oozing down his chin, she felt her heart sink. Then he acted like he didn't just have a near death experience, which only served to annoy and anger her.

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry?! It was a stupid decision, I acknowledge that! Can't we just put it all behind us now?" Kuro whined as Yang was still dragging him by his scarf, the rest of her team berating him along the way.

"No. Not this time. You've done some stupid things before and I've put up with it for a while, but this time you've gone off the deep end! You could have been _**DEAD****!**_" Blake said, her usual stoicism replaced by a deep annoyance.

"**_D-E-D, DEAD!_**" Ruby shouted.

"_**YOU'RE NOT HELPING!**_"

"…sorry…" the young huntress shrank behind Weiss.

"Stop touching me…" and said in a deadpanned manner with half closed eyes. Yang furiously kicked the door down and tossed poor Kuro onto the floor.

"…Ouch…" he mumbled.

"Get up." the buxom blonde commanded, leaving no room for debate. Kuro, being whipped, did as told and stood in front of Team RWBY. He shrank under their stern gaze. To alleviate this tension, he broke the ice.

"So, uh, anybody hungry?" At the very least Ruby's glare lessened but was still present.

"Don't start with me!" A fist met Kuro's gut and he doubled over. Granted, it was a lot lighter than how she'd normally punch somebody but still hurt enough to make him keel over.

"Ouch…" he wheezed as he started falling towards the floor. But before he could hit it, he felt two arms wrap themselves around his torso and push him back to his feet. He let out a questioning noise when two arms had tenderly held him. Yang was hugging him now.

_'She punches me, then hugs me. Take your pick, woman!'_ he thought bitterly. But one thing he noticed was it. That it wasn't as bone-crushing as usual. It was… tender, yet still tight. She held him like he was going to disappear from her if she let him go. It was just like she did when they were kids.

"Uh… Yang?" he asked, fully aware that this was **WAY** out of character as far as he knew.

"Kuro… shut up…" he could have sworn that he heard her voice quavering as she held him. "Don't you ever… **EVER** do something like that again! Do you hear me, idiot?!"

"Yang…" was all that he could manage in this situation.

"Do you hear me…? I was so scared and angry. I thought you were gonna die! You could have _**D****IED**! _HOW do you think I'd feel if you suddenly disappeared from me?"

"…" He simply stayed silent afterwards and held the blonde closely. "I'm… I'm sorry…" he then apologized. It wasn't just aimed at her, but everyone in the room. He started stroking Yang's hair until he felt that she's calmed down a bit. Of course, she was embarrassed that everyone had seen that side of her. She cleared her throat and turned her attention back to the only guy amongst them.

"Uh… We were mainly coming to get you since well…" Blake sensed Yang's uncomfortableness and gently brushed her aside.

"Ruby says you're there only one who could cook out of all of us, so as of now you're responsible for the food aspect of this mission." she briefed him on the new group dynamic.

"Fair enough… Depends on what we've got, though." Kuro accepted and went to the kitchen area. "We've got ingredients for… We're going Italian tonight! Spaghetti and meatballs, that alright?"

"Works for us." they all shrugged.

"Cookies for dessert, Rosebud!"

"_**YAY!**_" Ruby exclaimed with exuberance.

"If I remember, that is!" And then, she deflated at that. She made a mental note to force him to remember those cookies by any means necessary. "Are you f***ing serious right now…?"

"Language, Arc."

"The author censored me, though… and also—" Kuro came out with a bubblegum pink apron with the words, "Sugar Daddy" on the center. "—who the hell left this… thing here?"

Seeing the apron made the girls laugh. He sent a half hearted glare at them all, which made their laughter even more pronounced.

"Huh… well… this is a problem…" Kuro muttered flatly. The fiber teens were gathered in the only sleeping quarters in the cabin: one room with two beds, both with enough room for two.

"I'll say. Doesn't anybody here know how to count properly?!" Weiss complained with her arms crossed. She then noticed Kuro looking into the closet and grabbing an extra blanket. "What are you doing, Arc?"

"What does it look like? I'm gonna sleep on the couch while you girls get the beds. G'night." he walked past him until the siblings of the group gripped his collar and dragged him onto the bed and got in there with him. The WB were confused and very displeased, both for various reasons.

"**HEY! WHAT DO YOU THREE THINK YOU'RE DOING?**!" the heiress all but shouted, causing Blake's ears to ring.

"We're sharing, that's what, Ice Princess." Yang answered plainly. Weiss decided to ignore that insipid nickname for now.

"**WHY DID YOU DRAG HIM IN YOUR BED AS WELL?**"

"We slept together all the time when we were kids, Weiss." Ruby explained innocently.

"Keywords: 'when you were kids!' You're not anymore! **ARC, GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!**" Weiss wouldn't have it and ordered the boy out.

"I honestly would, but considering that I'm pinned to the bed, I really don't have a say in the matter right now." he replied.

"Besides, he's comfy. I'm not letting this one go." Yang muttered while she was quickly drifting off. Snores could be heard from her in a matter of seconds.

"Well, she's out. And trust me, after a while, she'll start rolling around and then I'll escape."

"I'll still be here, though." Ruby responded, a little bit peeved that she was being forgotten. Kuro gave her a half lidded stare.

"All I need is to bring up the cookie fairy and you'll start fidgeting your arms and legs like a puppy." the crimsonette flushed a little bit and pointed to him.

"That was _YOU?!_"

"Yes… now, let's go to sleep…" by this time, Blake and Weiss just thought 'screw this' and had gotten into their own bed. Of course, Kuro couldn't sleep at all since Yang kept punching his gut, but this gave him a chance to get out of the bed, grab the blanket and pillow that he needed, and leave the room. But when he put his hand on the doorknob, he heard groaning in the background.

"_Nooooo~_" he saw Yang doing her usual thrashing. But instead of shouting something about the world giving her their energy, she was… whimpering while her hands constantly shuffled the area where Kuro once laid. "Don't leave me…"

'…Yang…' Kuro gave her the pillow that he would have used and she hugged it for dear life.

"…I won't let you leave me…" he smiled at this surprisingly vulnerable side of her and stroked her hair, which seemed to calm her down. He then noticed that, once again, that stray stand of hair on the top of her head formed a "heart." He chalked it up as it meaning that she was really happy, kissed her forehead (and did the same for Ruby), and went downstairs to sleep on the couch.

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**So… how was it, guys?! Good? I'm gonna add on to this anyways so…**

**Be sure to favorite, follow, and review please! I'll see you byoutiful sons of guns next time!**

**~ Peace!**


	9. Important Notice! Please Read

**Hey, guys! I'm sorry that this isn't a normal update, but I wanna share something with you guys. Both good news and bad news:**

**Bad news first; I don't know how to continue this story. I really can't. I've left the story off on a complete dead end and I'm REALLY stretching to find a suitable plot point for this. Keep in mind that this is worse than usual as I can not find something to help advance the story (evident by my one shot series having more chapters than this).**

**Plus, everything I have planned for Kuro can't fit in with the current setup. I keep on thinking of other abilities (of course, with their drawbacks) and other plot devices that this one can't really go anywhere, and if I tried implementing them with this current plot, the story will seem… jumbled.**

**And honestly, I can write better fight scenes for Kuro if he had a sword rather than a bow, so that's one thing.**

**Also, this story has way too much emphasis on Kuro and Team RWBY. When I started TCTBU, I wanted it to have more of a focus on Kuro and Jaune's development as people (because in my eyes, having him there just to be the butt monkey of the group SUCKS. But he is getting better during the later half of Volume 3, so that's promising), which is why I made them brothers. But I keep gravitating Kuro towards RWBY and that won't help my cause.**

**Thinking of the prologue was a pain in the ass because I couldn't really find a good starting point within either the series itself or my brain without it seeming like a total ass-pull.**

**And then, there's characterization. Ooh, boy… See, I intended Kuro to be a bit of an antithesis to Jaune: Both starting out relatively the same, but branching out on opposite sides as the story progresses and coming back together in the end. For example, their moralities:**

**To me, Jaune is more of the good vs. evil idealistic type. He wants to be a hunter and help people because that's what heroes do and disbelieves in killing to resolve conflict.**

**To counter this, Kuro is an ineffectual loner who doesn't choose a side during heated debates. He often views things more objectively and is fully aware that he will have to get his hands dirty in order to bring peace.**

**All in all, this story is slowly becoming a jumbled mess and whether I look into my profile and see this story on the list, I constantly think "Oh, yeah… There's… that one…"**

**Good news (Sorta): I'm going to do a rewrite of this story. The prologue won't be changed much (maybe just put into one big chapter, but nothing's concrete), but everything after Initiation will be different. Some of which will follow canon, but with a few contrasts in between.**

**I also want Kuro to have the most interactions with Jaune. I wanted to have them both grow and progress at relatively the same pace, but I couldn't do that with the current setup because, again, he's hanging out too much with Team RWBY.**

**I won't make Kuro overpowered, just well off enough that he got into Beacon. Jaune's transcripts are legitimate in this one, too, and he'll be a bit more skilled, but not on the level of RWBY/NPR. And this might change into a Naruto crossover, too, since some of the ideas for abilities for Kuro are too much like a character from that series.**

**But that's all I have to say right now, so I hope you guys will forgive me if you see this story absent from anyone's favorites/follows list.**

**This has been xXWarrior-AngelXx!**

**~ Peace!**


	10. Profile Update!

**To all my followers here on ,**

**This not-at-all new chapter is actually a heads up on a few changes that will be taking place soon:**

**#1. I'm moving all of my lemon stories onto a different profile made exclusively for those. The reason being it's seriously killing me trying to write up the new chapters for my main stories, but at the same time new ideas for lemon stories are piling up in my head. As such, I'm also gonna be moving my lemon stories over to a website called Archive of Our Own just in case they get taken down for obvious reasons.**

**(…or this could blow up in my face and I'll be forced to go back to the way things were… I really hope it's the former)**

**#2. Since I'm on the subject of lemons, I'm gonna be starting two new series: one for High School D×D, and the other for Hyperdimension Neptunia (Yup! There's gonna be some Neppin' involved!)**

**#3. Since I have the original versions of "Kuro versus D×D" and "The Cloth That Binds Us" saved somewhere else as source material, I'll be removing them from my original profile as well.**

**These changes will be made before the week ends, so don't be surprised when you see a smaller number of stories on my main profile.**


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